Uncontrolled Risk

How Excessive Risk Destroyed Lehman and Nearly Brought Down the Financial Industry"Uncontrolled Risk will ruffle feathers—and for good reason—as voters and legislators learn the difficult lessons of Lehman's collapse and demand that we never forget them."—Dr. David C. Shimko, Board of Trustees, Global Association of Risk Professionals"Uncontrolled Risk is a drama as gripping as any work of fiction. Williams's recommendations for changes in the governance of financial institutions should be of interest to anyone concerned about the welfare of global financial markets."—Geoffrey Miller, Stuyvesant Comfort Professor of Law and Director, Center for the Study of Central Banks and Financial Institutions, New York University"The complex balance of free enterprise on Wall Street and the healthy regulation of its participants is the central economic issue of today. Williams's forensic study of Lehman's collapse may be the best perspective so far on the issues that now face regulators."—Jeffrey P. Davis, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Lee Munder Capital Group"Provides a very perceptive analysis of the flaws inherent in risk management systems and modern financial markets. Mandatory reading for risk managers and financial industry executives."—Vincent Kaminski, Professor in the Practice of Management, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University"Gives the reader much food for thought on the regulation of our financial system and its interplay with corporate governance reform in the United States and around the world."—Professor Charles M. Elson, Edgar S. Woolard, Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance, University of DelawareThe risk taking behind Wall Street's largest bankruptcy...In this dramatic and compelling account of Lehman Brothers' spectacular rise and fall, author Mark T. Williams explains how uncontrolled risk toppled a 158-year-old institution—and what it says about Wall Street, Washington, D.C., and the world financial system. A former trading floor execu