The US Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday its enforcement chief has quit, following criticism over apparent failure to uncover the alleged 50 billion dollar investment scam run by mastermind Bernard Madoff. SEC enforcement director Linda Chatman Thomsen planned to return to the private sector, the commission said, praising her three year stint as "a historic period."
While the commission said more than 2,000 enforcement actions were taken and billions of dollars returned to harmed investors during her tenure, some lawmakers and experts said few large busts took place under her watch. US lawmakers last week gave the commission a severe tongue-lashing for not moving swiftly to uncover the Madoff scandal despite ample warnings, including by a private securities sleuth who said he tried for nearly a decade to sound the alarm on Madoff.