Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Bernard Madoff will file a list of his assets with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today, his lawyer said, meeting the regulator’s deadline for disclosure of what money he has left.

“We are going to make the filing,” attorney Ira Sorkin said in an interview. A federal judge ordered Madoff on Dec. 18 to provide the SEC with a list of all investments, loans, lines of credit, business interests, brokerage accounts and other holdings. SEC enforcement official Andrew Calamari said the asset list won’t be filed publicly.

Madoff, 70, was charged earlier this month by federal prosecutors and sued by the SEC for securities fraud for allegedly directing a $50 billion Ponzi scheme through his New York investment firm. Sorkin has said Madoff’s company is cooperating with the government. His client met with prosecutors earlier this month, according to people familiar with the case.

Shortly before he was arrested, Madoff allegedly told employees that he had $200-$300 million left, according to an FBI complaint. Sorkin declined to comment on the amount of Madoff’s remaining assets. Yesterday, the trustee now in charge of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC obtained court approval to use $28.1 million out of its accounts as it unwinds the firm.

“The estate requires the funding to get to the sale of certain assets,” said Richard Bernard, an attorney representing Irving Picard, the trustee appointed by Securities Investor Protection Corp. to supervise Madoff’s company.

Firm Collapse

The firm collapsed after Madoff was arrested Dec. 11. He allegedly told his sons that he directed the Ponzi scheme, in which old investors are paid off with money from new ones, according to an FBI complaint. The firm is liquidating under the SIPC, whose funds cover securities and cash claims of as much as $500,000 per customer, including as much as $100,000 in cash.

The use of the funds won’t diminish those customers’ returns because the trustee’s costs that aren’t covered by funds from the Madoff firm’s estate will be paid by SIPC, according to a statement from the agency and Picard.

Picard reached a deal with Bank of New York Mellon Corp., which holds the funds, to have them released. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland in Manhattan said the court papers outlining the agreement were very basic and asked the lawyer for more information on the accounts.

More Funds

Bernard said there are more funds and accounts, without being specific. Bank of New York is holding some funds because it may have “set-off rights” on certain claims, he said, adding he was limited in what he could say in open court because of ongoing criminal investigations.

Picard will mail claim forms to customers and creditors of Madoff Securities by Jan. 9, the SIPC said.

Madoff’s firm was the 23rd-largest market maker on Nasdaq in October, handling an average of about 50 million shares a day, according to exchange data. It took orders from online brokers for some of the largest U.S. companies, including General Electric Co. and Citigroup Inc.

Madoff, who hasn’t formally responded to the securities fraud charge, is due in court Jan. 12, unless he is indicted before then. Prosecutors and defense lawyers may also agree to postpone the court date.

Lifland last week gave Picard authority to share confidential information, such as proprietary trading programs, with potential buyers of the Madoff firm’s market-maker unit.

Picard is tasked with maximizing assets for the firm as investors that had about $36 billion with Madoff seek the return of their money.

The case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Madoff, 08-cv-10791, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Allan Dodds Frank in New York at allanfrank@bloomberg.net and; Christopher Scinta in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York at cscinta@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 31, 2008 10:30 EST