Fraud in the Markets : Why It Happens and How to Fight It

The subprime mania that swept the home mortgage and securities markets circa 2002 2003 was the last straw for the U.S. financial system as we knew it from the early years of the twentieth century. Starting with the establishment of central banking in 1913, the American economy has toughed out several recessions, including the devastating years of the Great Depression. And then came the Great Crash of 2008. It is no coincidence that the financial services industry was the breeding ground for the deadly forces that brought on the financial crash and its aftershocks. It is also no surprise that fraud played a starring role in the emergence of these dark chapters in American financial history. Offering a complete perspective on the complicated and sobering impact of fraud in pushing the world s preeminent financial system to disaster on many occasions, Fraud in the Markets: Why It Happens and How to Fight It reveals: The genesis of the culture of "anything goes" on Wall Street that fueled the innovation of super risky asset backed securities and the financial devastation suffered by institutions that invested in them The egregiously fraudulent lending practices that engulfed the entire U.S. mortgage industry The reckless and legally questionable conduct of the captains of Lehman Brothers, Countrywide, Washington Mutual, and other major financial firms just before their collapse The best and brightest ideas for preventing similar disasters from recurring Practical guidelines for protecting your investments and your company from various forms of fraud and deception What really matters is not so much who to blame for the subprime crisis and its related financial failures, but how this perfect storm happened. Written by a nationally recognized expert in the field of fraud detection and prevention, Fraud in the Markets shows you what you can do to protect your investments and your company from devastating financial market fraud, corruption, and deception.