WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission will turn to state regulators for help as it builds a central system for screening tips about financial crimes after missing Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion fraud.
Federal investigators will concentrate on complaints about activities deemed to pose a high risk to investors, Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said Monday at the North American Securities Administrators Association conference in Denver. The SEC also will give state authorities more information on active probes and may join the states to train investigators, he said. “We’ll take all the help we can in terms of developing expertise.”
The SEC, faulted by an internal inquiry for inadequately pursing tips about Madoff for 16 years, is overhauling its enforcement program and building a system for sorting hundreds of thousands of complaints received annually. The measures will add front-line investigators, trim the layers of management and improve coordination, Khuzami said. Bloomberg News
