Madoff sold influence in Washington

Politico reports:

But lobbying is just a piece of Madoff’s influence in Washington. His family has contributed nearly $400,000 to political committees. And his niece, Shana Madoff Swanson, who serves as a compliance attorney at his firm, is married to a former high-ranking Securities and Exchange Commission official, Eric Swanson.

Swanson was the assistant director in the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations’ market oversight unit in Washington. According to his biography, Swanson “supervised and conducted inspections and examinations that involved a wide range of issues including best execution, order handling, insider trading [and] market manipulation.”

The SEC has come under criticism for not following up on tips that Madoff’s investment returns seemed suspicious. Mr. Swanson left the SEC in 2006. He married Madoff’s niece the next year. He now works at a firm called BATS Exchange, which describes itself as “the third-largest stock exchange” in the United States, behind the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

A spokesman for BATS said: “Eric Swanson worked at the SEC for 10 years and did not participate in any inquiry of Bernard Madoff Securities or its affiliates while involved in a relationship with Shana, whom he met through her trade association work in the industry. They were married in 2007. Throughout his career, Eric has displayed the highest ethical standards and his reputation has been — and continues to be — above reproach.”

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