Late Wednesday evening, after an emotional hearing before the House Financial Services Committee in which five SEC witnesses declined to explain their performance in the Madoff matter because of ongoing investigations, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro sent a letter to Committee acknowledging that the hearing "cannot have been satisfactory for you."

Ms. Schapiro's letter to Chairman Paul Kanjorski and Ranking Member Scott Garrett stated:

The Commission's staff and I understand that you must have adequate information to fulfill your oversight responsibilities. There needs to be a full accounting, both of Mr. Madoff's activities and why we did not detect the fraud, which we truly regret.

The Commission's staff and I believe that it is possible to serve those interests while not impeding the integrity of ongoing civil and criminal investigations. For that reason, I hope that I can set up a prompt meeting with you so that we can determine a course forward that will meet all of our interests.

We at the SEC are committed to looking at all aspects of our examinations and investigations of Mr. Madoff and his firm and making changes that will enhance our ability to detect similar frauds.

I am available to meet with you at your earliest convenience.

The letter did not elaborate on what "course" might allow the SEC to explain its involvement in the Madoff matter without hindering or jeopardizing ongoing investigations.

Read the February 4, 2009 letter from Mary Schapiro