We'll have a full account of yesterday's Congressional hearings, plus analysis, later on today. In the meantime, a few thoughts:

The oldest con in history is "you're part of the con" (see, for example, The Sting) - and there were early suspicions that Madoff's reported returns weren't due to a Ponzi scheme but to front-running through his brokerage arm. How many of his investors shared these suspicions and decided to ignore them because there was money to be made?

Madoff was investigated by both Finra and the SEC - did they communicate fully? How much better would a streamlined regulatory system have done?

Can the SEC survive this sort of incredibly public failure?