SEC Incompetence Allowed Madoff to Thrive

"A searing internal report from Wall Street's top regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, says that the 2006 failure was just one in a catastrophic series of errors that the agency made in its dealings with Madoff. It could have discovered the fraud and shut him down as early as 1992, but staff were dazzled by his Wall Street credentials and fearful of his power, the report concludes. At one point Madoff even claimed to be on a short-list to become the next chairman of the SEC."