Madoff case prompts rethink in financial services
24 December 2008
The Serious Fraud Office is calling on accountancy and law firms employed in the City financial services industry to blow the whistle on any bad practices arising from the credit crunch.
The government department has posted a form on its website targeting individual workers, ex-employees, shareholders and anyone with information about suspected fraud.
Cases of alleged fraud exceeding £1 million are investigated by the SFO, especially those requiring highly specialised knowledge, for example, of financial markets.
Richard Alderman, director of the SFO, said: “As financial institutions and instruments come under pressure, it is possible that more and more instances of fraud will emerge and employees , directors, investors, indeed, the companies themselves may become victims.”
“We have contacted financial institutions, professional advisers (both lawyers and accountants), inviting them to work with us to help identify problems. Now we want to go further. We are appealing for individuals to get involved.”
The news comes as the US faces what could be one of the biggest cases of fraud yet. Last month, Bernard Madoff, former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, was charged with fraud amounting to £33.5bn.
David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, last month said a “culture of responsibility” in the banking industry was needed where clear rules of behaviour were established and the “distorted” bonus structure was reformed.
"When I see working people paying through their taxes to bail out a banking industry which has imploded under the weight of its own irresponsibility, I believe we owe it to them to investigate thoroughly what exactly happened in this financial crisis, and to do all we can to stop it happening again,” he added.