WASHINGTON, D.C.///May 26, 2009///The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which maintains a special reserve fund authorized by Congress to help investors at failed brokerage firms, today applauded the nearly quarter of a billion dollar settlement reached by Optimal Investment Services (Optimal) by Irving Picard, the trustee for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS).

The $235 million settlement resolves all claims that the Trustee has against Optimal, which has agreed to pay an amount equal to 85 percent of the amount of the Trustee’s original claims.

To date, the Trustee has collected over $1.2 billion for victims of the Madoff fraud. As of Memorial Day, letters for commitments in excess of $116 million had been sent by the Trustee to 237 claimants in the BLMIS liquidation.

Stephen Harbeck, president, Securities Investor Protection Corporation, said: “SIPC supports the settlement wholeheartedly. It is in the best interest of the customers of the Madoff brokerage firm. This settlement is the result of extensive factual research, diligent legal scholarship, and practical craftsmanship by the Trustee and his attorneys. It is a roadmap for similar recoveries that will benefit the victims of Bernard Madoff s crimes.”