[JURIST] US financier Bernard Madoff [JURIST news archive] consented to a partial judgment [SEC press release] with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] Monday over civil charges brought by the SEC to obtain a preliminary injunction and asset freeze against him. According to the SEC, the agreement will continue the previously imposed preliminary injunction, but in consenting to the agreement, Madoff will neither admit nor deny the SEC's allegations. The agreement between the SEC and Madoff must be approved by Judge Louis Stanton of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [court website]. Criminal securities fraud charges [JURIST report] filed against Madoff are not affected by Monday's agreement. Also on Monday, SEC Division of Enforcement Director Linda Thomsen announced she was stepping down from her post [SEC press release]. Thomsen had been with the SEC since 1995 and had recently given testimony [JURIST report] before the US Senate Banking Committee concerning SEC enforcement and the Madoff scandal.

In the week following Madoff's charges, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox [official profile] said that he would launch an immediate investigation [press release; JURIST report] into how the fraud allegedly perpetrated by Madoff went undetected for so long. In December, then-President-elect Barack Obama [official profile] named [press release] Mary Schapiro [professional profile] as the SEC Chairman, replacing Cox. Madoff was charged with securities fraud in December for allegedly violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 [texts]. UK financial firm Bramdean Alternatives Limited [corporate website] raised concerns [statement, DOC; JURIST report] about the US financial regulatory process after its value dropped by more than 35 percent following news of its exposure to the fraud.