David Becker Response

Statement

To: Reporters and Editors
Re: David Becker response
Da: Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa today made the following comment on the response of former Securities and Exchange Commission general counsel David Becker to his inquiry with House Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa requesting information on a seemingly obvious, significant conflict of interest in the Bernie Madoff fraud case.

"Mr. Becker's response raises troubling questions about his work on Madoff matters and the SEC's ethics procedures. It's surprising that Mr. Becker still believes that disclosing his inheritance would have made him no "more or less effective in representing the SEC' and that there was "no appearance of impropriety.' Chairman Schapiro herself said she wished Mr. Becker had recused himself from Madoff matters, while Mr. Becker still refuses to acknowledge any responsibility for his actions.

"At the very least, the SEC showed an extreme insensitivity to the Madoff victims by allowing him to work on such a contentious case despite his conflict. Mr. Becker seemed to hold himself only to the minimal standard of what he believed was technically legal, rather than what was best for the Madoff victims and the integrity of the SEC. He said, "I do not remember considering whether I should recuse myself from the "net equity' issue in the absence of a legal requirement that I do so.' The SEC is supposed to look out for consumers. In this case, the agency didn't look out for Madoff victims. It allowed an SEC employee who profited from a Madoff account to craft the commission's position on how to treat Madoff victims. That's unacceptable. I want to see ethics reforms at the SEC that go beyond adherence to the bare minimum of what might be technically legal."

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