SIPC Reform and NASD Damages Curb Top Agenda for New PIABA Head.

Mark Maddox, Former Chief Securities Regulator for Indiana, Sets National

Policy and Public Awareness Goals for PIABA 

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark E. Maddox, Esq., former Indiana Securities Commissioner and a founding principal of the Indianapolis- based law firm of Maddox, Koeller, Hargett & Caruso, will take the gavel this weekend as President of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA), which is the specialty bar of lawyers dealing with securities arbitration cases. Outlining his goals for the coming year, Maddox vows to push for an overhaul of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and also pledged stalwart opposition to a National Association of Securities Dealers Regulatory (NASDR) proposal to curb punitive damages for investors who have been swindled or otherwise abused.

"My primary focus for the year will include modernizing the SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) and actively involving PIABA members in bringing about a defeat of the NASDR's proposed cap on punitive damages in investor arbitration awards," stated Maddox.

"This isn't just a PIABA issue -- it should be a national investors' rights campaign," Maddox said. "We are seeing record-breaking punitive damages awards being handed down by arbitration panels as a result of blatant fraud and outrageous broker abuses. With two out of every five adults in America now investing in the stock markets, we cannot allow broker fraud and abuse to become affordable enough to be 'just another cost of doing business.' It is exactly the wrong message to send to investors."

Maddox intends to approach the SEC and Members of Congress to discuss a badly-needed overhaul of the charter of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation just as soon as the new Congress convenes. SIPC was formed in 1970 as a consumer protection membership organization, providing monetary protection against losses to investors that result from broker-dealer failure. SIPC is funded by assessments collected from SIPC members -- brokerages houses and their dealers and agents. SIPC's assets now stand at over $1 billion.

Maddox states that "SIPC was intended to protect the investing public, not to deny the existence of dishonest brokers and disreputable firms. With $40 million in investor losses due to fraud each year, it is essential that the public's interests are protected. Our markets and those investing in them have drastically changed over the past thirty years; the form and function of SIPC needs to be in step with those changes. Equally important, I believe its administrators and staff need to be reminded of what it was created to do -- protect the investing public."

Maddox will tell PIABA members that he is committed to enhancing the visibility and viability of the specialist bar association. He promises to work closely with the group's standing committees to ensure a continuing exchange of ideas among members and plan to utilize opportunities that will put PIABA in the forefront with investors, as well as regulators, the Congress, and the financial media.

Mark Maddox started his law firm in 1991 after serving as Indiana's Securities Commissioner for two years. Today the firm is one of the country's largest practices concentrating in the representation of investors in securities arbitration and litigation proceedings. Since 1996, Mr. Maddox has served as a public representative on the NASD Regulation's National Arbitration and Mediation Committee. He is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association and past chair of its Securities Sub-Committee, and the American Bar Association, where he has been active on the State Regulation of Securities Committee.

PIABA was created in 1991 to help level the playing field for investors in securities and commodities arbitration. It serves as a public watchdog organization and a referral mechanism for investors seeking legal advice or representation in securities arbitration cases.