Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities

What Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities does

Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) was a New York-based, privately held broker-dealer founded by Bernard Madoff in 1960. On December 11, 2008, the firm was revealed to have operated what is regarded as the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history, defrauding customers of approximately $20 billion in principal across multiple decades. Four days later, on December 15, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York appointed Irving H. Picard as SIPA Trustee and BakerHostetler LLP as counsel, placing BLMIS into the largest SIPA liquidation in the history of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

Since then, the entity has had no operating business. Its sole activity is the court-supervised recovery of assets and distribution of funds to victims. As of July 24, 2026, total recoveries and settlement agreements stand at approximately $15.480 billion, with $14.799 billion distributed to customers holding allowed claims through seventeen pro rata interim distributions, representing roughly a 72.848% recovery rate on $20.315 billion of allowed claims. SIPC has committed approximately $850.9 million in advances (up to $500,000 per allowed claim) to expedite customer relief. Of 16,521 total claims filed, 2,659 have been allowed, 2,693 denied, and 10,734 denied as Claimants Without An Account (CWAA), with 530 claimants served through the Hardship Program.

The liquidation is administered through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. BLMIS has no active products, no pricing model, no customers in a commercial sense, and no revenue-generating activity. Its "value proposition" is the pro rata recovery of stolen funds and SIPC-protected advances, and its strategic activity is limited to continued litigation against third-party defendants and the administration of remaining distributions.

Name

Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities

Legal name

Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC

Website

https://madofftrustee.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC is a defunct New York broker-dealer in SIPA liquidation since December 2008 following the discovery of the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history; the entity has no operating business and exists solely to recover and distribute funds to defrauded claimants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Securities Brokerage (historical); SIPA Liquidation Administration (current)

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYFSAKAJAF

Repossession & Asset Recovery (Non-mortgage)

Financial & Insurance/Lending & Consumer Finance/Debt Collection, Recovery & Servicing

Keywords

• Securities brokerage
• Investment advisory
• Broker-dealer services
• Fraud victim recovery
• SIPA liquidation

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC was a broker-dealer providing security brokerage and investment advisory services. Since December 2008, the entity has been in SIPA liquidation with no active products or services; the current activity consists of recovering stolen customer funds through litigation and settlements and making pro rata interim distributions to claimants with allowed claims, overseen by court-appointed SIPA Trustee Irving H. Picard.

Product overview

Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) was a defunct securities brokerage firm that operated as a Ponzi scheme. The entity is currently under Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) liquidation proceedings administered by court-appointed SIPA Trustee Irving H. Picard and counsel at BakerHostetler LLP. The company no longer operates as a going concern and has no active products or services. The website serves exclusively as a portal for the liquidation administration, providing claims status, recovery updates, distributions information, and court filings related to the liquidation process.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Recovered $15.480 billion out of approximately $20 billion in losses - approximately 77% recovery rate
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• BakerHostetler LLPcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 15 December 2008BakerHostetler LLP was appointed as counsel to the SIPA Trustee Irving H. Picard by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The firm leads legal efforts including forensic analysis, complex negotiations, litigation, and claims administration. The team is led by partner David J. Sheehan.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights1 record

Direct peers

• Refco Inc. Broker-dealer that filed for bankruptcy in 2005 after a hidden $430 million bad debt was disclosed. Comparable as a defunct broker-dealer with a fraud-related collapse triggering large-scale creditor and customer recovery efforts.
• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Investment bank and broker-dealer that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008, also administered through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Comparable as a large-scale wind-down of a defunct securities firm, though Lehman was a going concern rather than a fraud-driven liquidation.
• Peregrine Financial Group: Futures broker (Peregrine Financial Group / Russell Wasendorf) that collapsed in 2012 after a $215 million fraud was uncovered. Comparable as a broker-dealer fraud subjected to liquidation and customer-fund recovery proceedings.
• MF Global Holdings Ltd. Broker-dealer that collapsed in 2011 amid a customer funds shortfall, with SIPC involvement and a SIPA liquidation. Comparable as a defunct broker-dealer subjected to a SIPA-style recovery process for customer claims.
• Stanford Financial Group: Operated a multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme through Stanford International Bank, with the SEC-appointed receiver (Ralph Janvey) conducting decades-long recovery litigation. Comparable as a large-scale Ponzi scheme liquidation with parallel victim-recovery mandate.

Others

• BakerHostetler LLP: Court-appointed counsel to the SIPA Trustee for BLMIS, leading forensic analysis, litigation, and claims administration. Comparable as a professional services firm driving the operational execution of the liquidation.

Broad incumbents

• Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC): The statutory overseer of all SIPA liquidation proceedings, including BLMIS. SIPC has committed $850.9M to the BLMIS liquidation and is the institutional counterparty responsible for advancing funds to expedite customer relief across multiple failed broker-dealer cases.
• Charles Schwab Corporation: Major retail broker-dealer and registered investment advisor. Comparable as an incumbent operator of the same product category (brokerage + investment advisory) that BLMIS purported to operate before its collapse.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat1 record

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/madofftrustee
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/madoff-securities-international-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities