Today, U.S. Judge Burton Lifland ruled that a proposed "money-in, money-out" formula to determine claims for the thousands hurt by Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The ruling means, according to Reuters, that "investors' claims should be based on how much money they put into the firm minus how much they took out over the years."

The ruling is expected to be appealed, but it highlights the confusing nature of our protection laws. Tom pointed this pointed in the aforementioned Reuters article:

"The court's ruling underscores how weak and confusing our investor protection laws are today," said Tom Matzzie, president of Accountable America, a group pressing for deeper reform in the financial industry. "Very little has changed from before the Madoff frauds until today."