150 years for Madoff, but who's next?

A New York judge has sentenced Bernie Madoff to 150 years – a verdict that will bring joy to many but relief to very few.

He is likely to take the innermost secrets of his Ponzi scheme, in which he defrauded $65bn out of his investors, to the grave.

So how many more will follow Madoff?Clearly, as things stand the great 20/20 cricketing entrepreneur Sir Allan Stanford appears to be bidding hard.

But when all is said and done, very, very, very few others who will go anywhere near a prison cell for their role in bringing the world’s financial systems to its knees.

There is no likelihood of any conventional banker, credit card operative, or anyone else in the mainstream going to jail.

None of those from within those vast emporia both sides of the Atlantic, whose lack of understanding – or worse – created a crash from which many still think it will take at least a decade to return.