Harry Markopolos

Markopolos will impart lessons that had to be relearned by capital markets due-diligence professionals, accountants, and regulators who forgot them all during the boom years that left them unprepared for the Mortgage Backed Securities fiasco and Bernie Madoff. Every sector of the financial services industry failed during both scandals and, unbelievably, it turned out no one was doing the job they said they were doing. Read More >

Most due diligence is a set of check-the-box questions that fraudsters know how to respond to. If that weren't bad enough, control systems are static while fraudsters are constantly improving and thinking of ways to circumvent whatever safeguards you were smart enough to implement in the past. Tragically, the financial services industry is its own worst enemy, driven by foolish fads destined to end in disaster as bad money and loosening credit standards drive out good money and sound lending standards. Large financial institutions are not much different than lemmings in search of the next cliff to jump off of.  Big frauds are glaringly easy to spot if you simply ask "does this make any sense?"  Read Less ^

Markopolos will provide a riveting, behind the scenes presentation on how his four-person investigative team tracked Madoff and the Madoff Feeder Funds throughout Europe and North America over an eight and a half year timeframe – while repeatedly submitting detailed reports to the US SEC, which refused to listen. He will explain the red flags, warning signs, and the audit steps you need to know so this doesn't happen to your organization.

How did the entire system of checks and balances fail for that many decades in the $65 billion Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme? Banks, investment banks, hedge funds, pension funds, endowments, and regulators of all stripes failed to exhibit even a modicum of professional skepticism. Big 4, regional, and local accounting firms also failed to exhibit professional skepticism despite numerous red flags and unintelligible account statements. The multi-billion dollar Madoff firm’s auditor was a one-man accounting firm yet raised no suspicions. How did Madoff game the SEC exam and enforcement teams? How did the complicit feeder funds game their own audits? Where were the accountants at the so-called independent third party administrators? How does an audit team know it’s being played? How can auditors recognize they’re being manipulated and challenge their audit clients in order to protect themselves and stakeholders from blown audits and the resulting lawsuits?  Read More >

Obviously the accounting firms that did Madoff-related audits can’t talk because they’re enmeshed in pre-trial litigation, so hear from Harry Markopolos, the Madoff whistleblower, for his observations on how Madoff got away with his fraud scheme and fooled so many for so long. What he has to say will have you either crying or laughing or maybe even both at the same time.   Read Less ^