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Investors
SIPC steps in when a brokerage firm fails financially, and assets are missing from customer accounts.
SIPC protects customer assets when a SIPC-member brokerage firm fails financially.
Understand how SIPC protection works if you have multiple accounts.SIPC has recovered billions of dollars for investors. Our job is to recover missing cash or securities if your brokerage firm has gone out of business. SIPC does not protect digital asset securities that are investment contracts that are not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, even if held by a SIPC member brokerage firm.
SIPC has issued Investor Bulletins explaining SIPC’s protection and claims process. Click here for Part I ("SIPC Basics"). Click here for Part II ("Filing a SIPC Claim").
WASHINGTON, DC – November 17, 2014 – Once approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, a new settlement involving $497 million with the Herald Fund and Primeo Fund will increase the total recovery to date in the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) liquidation proceeding to $10.3 billion. The two feeder funds were primarily invested in BLMIS.
To date, the BLMIS Trustee has allowed 2,528 claims related to 2,198 Madoff accounts. Of these accounts, 1,131 accounts – or all allowed claims totaling $925,000 or less – now have been fully satisfied in the amount of nearly $6 billion.
The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) praised Trustee Irving H. Picard and his attorneys for their ongoing hard work in recovering and returning funds to Madoff customers. SIPC, which was actively involved in the negotiation and mediation efforts, also recognized the efforts of Kevin Bell and Lauren Attard on its legal staff in helping to bring about the complex settlement announced today.
SIPC President Stephen Harbeck said: "The prospect of amassing $10 billion in recoveries for Madoff victims was not viewed by many as a serious possibility at the start of the case. The legal tools available to Trustee Picard under the Securities Investor Protection Act and the Bankruptcy Code have made it possible for him to make the most equitable distribution possible. I am hopeful that this settlement will serve as a template for the resolution of other so-called ‘feeder fund’ claims. We are pleased at the results as we continue to work with the Trustee towards our shared goal of fully satisfying as many BLMIS allowed claims as possible in an expeditious manner. As remaining legal disputes continue to be resolved, we look forward to sharing news of additional distributions to Madoff customers."
The nearly $6 billion in BLMIS distributions to date includes approximately $816.2 million in committed advances by SIPC to satisfy Madoff customers.
Since SIPC bears all of the costs of administration, such as legal and accounting fees in the liquidation, all of the assets recovered in litigation and settlements go directly to customers.