New York: The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which sued Bernard Madoff last month for allegedly directing a $50 billion fraud, won't make public a list of his assets filed yesterday, the regulator said.

A federal judge ordered Madoff to provide the SEC an accounting of all investments, loans, lines of credit, business interests, brokerage accounts and other holdings.

The court hasn't authorised it's public disclosure, said SEC enforcement official Andrew Calamari, who confirmed receipt of the list.

"I think one of the fears here is that much of this money may be in offshore funds," Columbia Law School Professor John Coffee said, adding that the SEC wants to keep the assets secret to protect them.

"There is the danger that foreign regulators and foreign creditors may seek to seize that money if the names and sources are made public," it said.
Source : PTI