Uncontrolled Risk: Lessons of Lehman Brothers and How Systemic Risk Can Still Bring Down the World Financial System

by Williams, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780071638296
• ISBN10: 0071638296
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-04-12
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education

Summary

Why was Lehman ignored when everyone else was bailed out?A risk advisor for top financial institutions and top B-school professor, Mark Williamsexplains how uncontrolled risk toppled a 158-year-old institution, using this story as amicrocosm to illuminate the interconnection of the global financial system, as well asbroader policy implications.This story is told through the eyes of an experienced risk manager and educator in adetailed and engaging way and provides the reader with a complete summary of how asavvy company with sophisticated employees and systems could have gotten it sowrong.

Author Biography

Mark Williamsis a well-recognized risk managementexpert and consultant in thefields of banking and commodities.He has worked as a senior executivefor a number of globalcompanies and as an examiner forthe Federal Reserve. He serves onthe finance and economics facultyat Boston University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
The Inquisition	p. 1
From Humble Roots to Wall Street Contender	p. 9
From Private to Public	p. 23
History of Investment Banking	p. 31
How the Investment Banking Money Machine Works	p. 45
The Roller-Coaster 1980s	p. 57
The 1990s: Rebuilding Years	p. 67
Lehman's Near-Death Experience	p. 77
Innovation, Imitation, and Increased Risk	p. 91
Lehman's Risk Management	p. 105
The Real Estate Bet and the Race to the Bottom	p. 117
The Bear Mauling	p. 137
Time Runs Out	p. 149
The Death of Lehman, Regulation, and Investment Banking	p. 165
The Enablers and the Deciders	p. 185
Epilogue: The Post-Lehman Financial Landscape	p. 211
Appendix; Lehman Chronology, 1845-2010	p. 221
Notes	p. 231
Index	p. 241
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