Subcommittee Chairman Paul Kanjorski chaired a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the $50 billion investment scam allegedly engineered by Bernard L. Madoff that was the subject of multiple investigations. The hearing titled "Assessing the Madoff Ponzi Scheme and the Need for Regulatory Reform" focused on the need to rewrite the laws governing the U.S. financial markets. Representative Bachus noted for the record that the hearing was not official as the 110th Congress had adjourned and the 111th Congress would not convene until the next day. Representative Frank noted that the committee would not be official until later in the month. Representative Kanjorski made known his intention that the meeting would be made an official hearing retroactively.