Saturday, February 12, 2011
Linda Chatman Thomsen
Several former enforcement officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission—who were in a position to stop the fraudulent schemes of Bernard Madoff and others but failed to do so—are doing quite well for themselves since leaving federal service.
Linda Chatman Thomsen, who spent 14 years at the SEC, including three as director of enforcement, is now a partner at the international law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. She resigned from the SEC five days after testifying before the House Committee on Financial Services about her failure to detect Madoff’s massive fraud.
Three deputy directors of enforcement also are partners at top law firms: Peter Bresnan, now with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett; George Curtis, now with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; and Walter Ricciardi, now with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
“Everybody made out like bandits except for the people who were really screwed,” a former ranking SEC attorney told the New York Post. “It’s such an outrage, how bad it was. And they’re all making well over seven figures now.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
SEC Officials Who Missed Madoff Now in Top Spots at Major Law Firms (by Josh Margolin, New York Post)
Comments