U.S. securities regulators will hold broker-dealers more accountable for their customers' assets, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro said on Monday.

We are considering enhancing oversight of broker-dealer custody by providing new information and tools to regulatory examiners, Schapiro said at an accounting conference.

Late in 2009, the SEC bolstered custody rules for investment advisers after Bernard Madoff's epic investment fraud.

(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Derek Caney)