He said he realized that his work was the only thing that could expose Mr. Madoff and he began to fear for his own life along with those of family members as he realized that Mr. Madoff could eliminate this potential problem by disposing of him. He also assailed the SEC as an agency that "roars like a lion and bites like a flea" and is afraid to take on prominent figures.

We have all heard about the need for government accountability. The truly interesting element is that Mr. Markopolos gave specific suggestions that are used in the private sector:

• The need to pay higher salaries to attract qualified individuals. He indicated that many of the individuals with whom he dealt could not understand the evidence that he was presenting.
• He also spoke of the need for financial incentives for government agencies to catch perpetrators of fraud. This would include bonus incentives for catching these individuals and penalties for missing things like the Madoff scandal.
• He spoke of a central office for whistle-blowers and financial incentives for inter-agency sharing of information.

There have always been discussions about the need for accountability, but this is one of the few times that we have specific, actionable recommendation with rewards and penalties.

Many have claimed that it is very difficult to introduce accountability in government. Mr. Markopolos gave a specific action plan to deal with this problem that members of the Senate Banking Committee should find difficult to refute.