WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Commission did not examine the advisory operations of accused financial swindler Bernard Madoff despite the firm registering in September of 2006, a top SEC official told lawmakers on Tuesday.
Lori Richards, the SEC's director of compliance, inspections and examinations, said in prepared remarks that the SEC did examine Madoff's broker-dealer operation -- most recently in 2004 and 2005 -- but found no alleged fraud.
Richards told the Senate Banking Committee that the SEC is examining how frequently it examines investment advisers and is determining whether investment advisers should disclose more risk-related information, such as the identity of their auditors and performance returns.
(Reporting by Karey Wutkowski, Rachelle Younglai and John Poirier; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
