SEC chief.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission moved to impose new rules on money managers to safeguard client holdings after Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme cost investors $65 billion.

SEC commissioners voted 5-0 yesterday on a proposal to subject about 9,600 investment advisers to annual surprise inspections by independent auditors.

About 370 money managers with direct custody of client holdings would also face yearly compliance exams to ensure they have adequate procedures to protect assets.

“We are taking this action in response to major investment scams such as Madoff,” SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said in Washington. “Our proposals would greatly enhance the independent checks on client assets.”

The SEC is trying to strengthen oversight after lawmakers criticized the agency for missing Madoff’s scheme. Schapiro is considering other reforms such as increasing use of professional examiners and overhauling the structure of the SEC enforcement division, which investigates and prosecutes fraud.

Madoff, who raised money from new investors to pay off his earlier clients, told customers he “self-custodied” securities on their behalf, the SEC wrote in a March 18 lawsuit against his auditor. Had the auditor checked the claim, Madoff’s scheme would have been exposed, the agency said.