Bank of New York Mellon unit settles Madoff case for $210 million

A Bank of New York Mellon subsidiary will pay $210 million to settle claims it concealed red flags showing Bernard Madoff was a fraud.

Due diligence by the unit, Ivy Asset Management, revealed discrepancies in Madoff’s stated investment strategy, according to a statement by New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman, who announced the settlement Tuesday.

While Ivy steered clients to invest in Madoff, collecting fees for itself, some at the firm had reservations about Madoff, the attorney general said.

Schneiderman cited an email one Ivy principal sent to a subordinate: “Ah, Madoff, you omitted one possibility - he’s a fraud!”

Ivy didn’t disclose its suspicions to clients, Schneiderman said, and falsely told them that “we have no reason to believe there is anything improper in the Madoff operation.”

“Ivy Asset Management violated its fundamental responsibility as an investment advisor by putting its own pecuniary interests ahead of the interests of its clients,” Schneiderman said. “An investment advisor should apprise its clients of risks, but Ivy deliberately concealed negative facts it uncovered in its due diligence of Madoff in order to keep earning millions of dollars in fees. As a result, its clients suffered massive and avoidable losses.”

Madoff’s massive multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme was revealed in December 2008. He has been serving a 150-year prison sentence.

Schneiderman sued Ivy in 2010. The settlement concludes suits also brought by the U.S. Department of Labor and private plaintiffs, and includes another $9 million from other defendants. The settlement will repay Madoff’s investors and cover fees and expenses of those who brought the suits.

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