In a separate story, meanwhile, it was claimed that Pictet, the Swiss private bank, sold funds to clients that lost money through Madoff’s fraud despite the investments not being recommended by the bank.

The reports concerning JP Morgan came from an updated court filing from the trustee charged with recovering money for Madoff’s victims. .

John Hogan, a senior risk officer at JP Morgan’s investment bank and a member of the company’s executive committee, reportedly voiced concerns about Madoff’s firm to colleagues in 2007, according to a new version of the 114-page complaint. The allegation is part of a $6.4 billion lawsuit filed against the bank by the trustee, Irving Picard. Hogan is said to have learnt of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme from Matt Zames, a rising star who has a wide portfolio of responsibilities at JP Morgan’s investment bank, reports said.

Although no major news organisation had flagged the idea that Madoff might be a crook, Barron’s, the business magazine, had questioned his business as early as 2001, according to the Financial Times. Among the characteristics of Madoff were consistently positive returns and secrecy about how he achieved his performance.

The court filing alleges that Mr Hogan and other JP Morgan executives ignored these and other signals and continued investing in so-called feeder funds that put money into the scheme.

The FT quoted JP Morgan as saying it complied with all laws and regulations and no employees were aware of the fraud.

Separately, a Reuters report said that a manager at Pictet, the Swiss private bank, sold funds to clients that lost money in Madoff’s fraud despite the investments not being recommended by Pictet. The story quoted unnamed sources.

The news service quoted a source as saying the bank never recommended Madoff-related funds and the client manager who sold those funds had left the bank by mutual agreement in 2009.

Pictet declined to comment, the news service said.

The bank has said its involvement with Madoff-related funds was limited to a custodian role.