Everyone knows the name Bernie Madoff. But very few people know the true story behind his deceptive Ponzi scheme.

“A lot of people don’t know this but Bernie Madoff was not a hedge fund,” Mitch Ackles, President of the Hedge Fund Association and CEO of Hedge Fund PR, told StreetID. “Bernie Madoff was a broker-dealer — a regulated entity. He committed fraud. What you’ve seen of the cases that have come out, insider trading is top of mind for people, but even those rules need some clarity.”

Ackles has not held back in sharing his feelings about regulation, which he wholeheartedly supports, along with clarifications to the existing set of rules.

“What constitutes insider trading?” Ackles questioned. “There’s no real, clear report from the government that says, ‘This is what it is.’ So there’s a lot of regulatory stuff that’s up in the air, but HFA’s primary goal is to help people connect. The industry is very disconnected and has been since its inception. Hedge fund managers don’t often come out of their shells.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission was expected to make an important announcement regarding any rule changes on August 22. Experts now expect the SEC to wait until the Presidential Election is over before announcing any firm rules or guidelines.

Get Hired Now

These days, job seekers have a million options, but we know where they should turn: StreetID. We built StreetID (a financial career matchmaking website) from the ground up to accommodate Wall Street’s growing community of financial professionals. In good times and in bad, current job seekers and those looking to move on in the future can turn to StreetID and sign up for a free account and make a direct connection with relevant candidates and employers.