SIPC review of some Madoff client claims has begun

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Claims from investors who lost money in an alleged $50 billion fraud run by financier Bernard Madoff are starting to be analyzed, the president of the agency charged with liquidating failed brokerages said on Tuesday.

"The claim forms have been in the hands of customers for about a week. They are going into a central processing area and I believe there are some in, and the trustee is starting to analyze them," Securities Investor Protection Corp President Stephen Harbeck told Reuters.

SIPC, a nonprofit agency set up by Congress to maintain a fund to help investors who had accounts at brokerage firms that have failed, has already mailed more than 8,000 claim forms to Madoff investors.

Madoff clients have until the end of June to file claims with SIPC and are being asked to provide information such as their most recent account statements and proof of wire transfers or canceled checks showing deposits from as far back as they can be documented.

It's unknown how much the tiny SIPC will have to pay as the agency and the trustee for Madoff's investment firm are still working to figure out how many investors were defrauded.

SIPC's fund has $1.6 billion. The agency also has a $1 billion line of credit with the U.S. Treasury Department.

Harbeck said SIPC and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have not yet resolved how some of the claims will be settled.

"That has not yet been resolved. We are all continuing to look at it. It's a tremendously complex question ... in some instances having to recreate records going back decades," Harbeck said.

Harbeck also said he has not received Madoff's list of assets from the SEC.

(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Brian Moss)