If you cannot view this email correctly, please click here to view it online.

Investors affected by Madoff should act before 4 March 2009 to protect their position

Those who fear that they have lost money as a result of the Madoff affair may be entitled to compensation, if they invested directly through Madoff’s brokerage business, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BMIS).  A trustee has been appointed to liquidate that business and return any assets recovered to victim customers as soon as possible.

To that end, funds of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), a US federal fund set up under the US Securities Investor Protection Act, may be used to compensate customers up to a maximum of $500,000 for each customer, including up to $100,000 for cash claims.

However, customers need to act promptly and must file their claim with the trustee by 4 March 2009 at the latest, in order to rely on the protection provided by the SIPC.  Although claims can still be filed up to 2 July 2009, this may result in less protection. 

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) has recently released a statement offering further guidance to European customers of BMIS and other investors affected by the Madoff collapse.

Full details of how to proceed with a claim, including copies of the forms to be completed, can be found both via the links set out at Annex A of the CESR statement (click here for the full statement) and at www.madofftrustee.com. 

For further analysis on this issue, you can read our previous law-now reviewing the potential claims arising from the Madoff scandal (click here for our Law-Now: “Touched by Madoff?  You May be…”).  We will be providing an update on this issue in our upcoming publication, “Investment Matters”.  If you would like a copy, please contact either Omar Qureshi or Ash Saluja.

For further information, please contact: