MORE EVIDENCE OF THE WALL STREET CULTURE OF CORRUPTION

By itself, the amount of fraud makes this a big story but let's not overlook the fact that this guy was a key player on Wall Street. When we talk about needed regulatory reforms, we should concentrate on doing what we can to weed out the corruption.

Madoff Charged in $50 Billion Fraud at Investment Advisory Firm
By David Glovin and Bradley Keoun

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Bernard Madoff, president of market- maker Bernard Madoff Investment Securities and a former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was charged by U.S. prosecutors in a $50 billion securities fraud at his investment advisory business.

“He’s one of the pioneers of modern Wall Street,” said James Angel, an associate business professor at Georgetown University in Washington. Madoff’s firm was among the first to automate market-making, in which a dealer continually buys and sells stock.

The firm specialized in handling orders from online brokers in some of the largest U.S. companies, including General Electric Co. and Citigroup Inc.

He was chief of the Securities Industry Association’s trading committee in the 1990s and early this decade, where he represented brokerage firms in discussions with regulators about new stock-market rules as electronic-trading systems and networks gained prominence.

“Bernard Madoff is a longstanding leader in the financial services industry,” said defense lawyer Dan Horwitz. “We will fight to get through this unfortunate set of events. He’s a person of integrity.”