241 Pizza

Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the US financial regulator, admits it could have averted the $50 billion alleged fraud if it had acted on numerous warnings about Mr Madoff's financial impropriety over a ten-year period.

Mr Madoff is electronically tagged and placed under house arrest at his $7 million Manhattan apartment after failing to find enough people to secure his bail. He is ordered not to leave his apartment between 7pm and 9am and both Mr Madoff and his wife are ordered to turn over their pastports to the courts.

December 18

President-elect Barack Obama announces Mary Schapiro, head of Wall Street's new self-regulator, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as the new chairman of the SEC following widespread criticism of the regulator's failure to spot Mr Madoff's alleged fraud.

December 22

City regulators plant to scrutinise the operations of Madoff Securities International, the London business controlled and chaired by Bernard Madoff, after Grant Thornton is appointed to conduct a “forensic investigation” into the London firm.

December 23

French hedge fund manager Theirry de la Villehuchet is found dead in his Madison Avenue office after apparently committing suicide. Mr de la Villehuchet entrusted $2.1 billion (£1.42 billion) with Mr Madoff.

Liliane Bettencourt, the world’s wealthiest woman and heiress to the L'Oreal empire, entrusted part of her $22.9 billion fortune to Mr Madoff through Mr de la Villehuchet.

December 29

Credit Suisse reveals its clients could have lost as much as SwFr1 billion in the Madoff scandal.

January 1

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