Congress wasted little time in taking SEC officials to task after the securities watchdog's inspector general released September 2 a scathing report on the SEC's failure to detect the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme.
At a September 10 hearing held by the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) stated that he was still trying to fathom "what went on" at the SEC to allow Madoff's "colossal thievery." Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), ranking member on the committee, said that the IG's report shows that "fixing the SEC will not require just more resources," but rather that the SEC "must revamp the way it works," Shelby said. If the SEC "refuses to do so," he said, "Congress will do it for them."
Meanwhile, the SEC announced September 16 that it had named Henry Hu, a University of Texas law school professor, as director of a new Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation, combining the offices of Economic Analysis and Risk Assessment with other functions.