MANY HEDGE FUNDS, BANKS AND INVESTORS EXPOSED TO THE ALLEGED $50 BILLION FRAUD BY BERNARD MADOFF

According to various news sources, here is list of hedge funds, banks, and investors that are exposed to the alleged $50 billion fraud by Bernard Madoff:

• FAIRFIELD SENTRY LTD - $7.3 billion hedge fund run by Walter Noel's Fairfield Greenwich Group
• KINGATE GLOBAL FUND LTD - The $2.8 billion hedge fund run by Kingate Management Ltd
• UBS - The investment bank unit of the Swiss financial group
• BENEDICT HENTSCH - The Swiss private bank
• PIONEER INVESTMENTS - UniCredit SpA's fund management unit is exposed through its Primeo Select hedge fund
• BRAMDEAN ALTERNATIVES LTD - The UK asset manager, headed by fund manager Nicola Horlick
• TREMONT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT - The manager of funds of hedge funds portfolios
• NOMURA HOLDING INC - The Japanese brokerage house.
• PALM BEACH COUNTRY CLUB - The country club for the rich.
• SANTANDER's OPTIMAL FUND - The unit of Spanish bank Santander
• STERLING EQUITIES-- The investment firm - owner of the New York Mets baseball team
• BANK SYZ - The Swiss bank dedicated to asset management
• LOMBARD ODIER - The Swiss private bank
• FORTIS BANK - Netherlands bank
• HSBC - UK bank
• ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND - UK bank
• NATIXIS - French investment bank
• BNP Paribas - French financial giant
• BBVA - Spain's second biggest bank

Sources: Reuters, Dec 12, 2008; Yahoo News-AFP, Dec 15, 2008.

The list may grow longer. Lawsuits are brewing.

VIDEO CLIPS:

According to Reuters News on Dec 15, 2008 - video clip: European banks estimate their exposure to a 50 billion USD fraud by Wall Street broker Bernard Madoff.

Bloomberg Video Clip, Dec 15, 2008: Probe Uncovers Secret Unit; Madoff's Wife's Name Found on Several Documents Linked to Transactions; Fate of the Brokerage in Question; HSBC Revealed to Have $1 Billion at Risk Through Investment.

CBS News Video Clip, Dec 15, 2008: Victims who lost their life savings are speaking out as investigations continue into Bernard Madoff's $50 billion investment scam that went on unnoticed for decades.

CBS News Video Clip, Dec 13, 2008: Wall Street investor Bernie Madoff was well respected within the world of finance. But, as Michelle Miller reports, the F.B.I. now suspects that Madoff scammed clients out of billions of dollars.

Bloomberg Video Clip, Dec 12, 2008: "Giant Ponzi Scheme" - If Allegations are True, This Fraud is on Enron Scale, But by One Man; Madoff Freed on $10 Million Bail; According to Wall Street Journal, It Was His Sons Who Turned Him In.

Our Take:

• This unbelievable ponzi scheme is clearly unacceptable. This is disgrace to the investment management community and to the capitalism. An investment fraud this magnitude and scope must be rigorously researched and pursued with the highest level of punishments to all the participants who defrauded investors.
• Considering that this giant fraud happened in the United States with all its supposedly broad and effective regulations and regulators (SEC, FINRA, etc.), the purest form of capitalism has shown to the world: a. high level of vulnerability of the US financial system and regulators to fraudulent activities; b. significant weakness and incompetence on the execution of regulations to protect private investors' rights.
• Affected investors including banks and hedge fund managers who invested heavily in Madoff's funds should seek maximum jail term for Madoff and reimbursements to all possible available funds that Madoff and his family still have.
• All investment managers' performance reports should be audited annually at minimum by reputed third party audit firms with the highest integrity and reputations.
• Investors must demand regulators to enforce transparency on all investment funds, to periodically send government auditors to review and audit the funds every year at minimum.
• Investors should only seek investment funds with highly trustworthy managers who posses the highest level of integrity and humility not just intelligence and passion.
• Any Investors now should be very careful on investment funds located not only inside US but outside US. There are are tremendous risks now especially in the investment funds that are not audited and run by investment managers that have lack of transparency and integrity.