All the Devils Are Here [3]
Sheila Bair Current chair of the FDIC. Assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions from 2001 to 2002.
Donna Tanoue Chair of the FDIC from 1998 to 2001.
Federal Reserve
Ben Bernanke Chairman of the Federal Reserve starting in 2006.
Timothy Geithner President of the New York Federal Reserve from 2003 to 2009.
Edward “Ned” Gramlich Federal Reserve governor from 1997 to 2005. Longtime head of the Fed’s committee on consumer and community affairs under Alan Greenspan.
Alan Greenspan Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006.
Securities and Exchange Commission
Christopher Cox Chairman from 2005 to 2009.
Arthur Levitt Chairman from 1993 to 2001.
THE SKEPTICS
Michael Burry California hedge fund manager who began shorting mortgage-backed securities in 2005.
Robert Gnaizda Former general counsel of the public policy group Greenlining Institute who called for scrutiny of unregulated lenders.
Greg Lippman Deutsche Bank mortgage trader. One of the few Wall Street traders to turn against subprime mortgages early on.
John Paulson Hedge fund manager who made $4 billion buying credit default swaps on subprime mortgage-backed securities.
Andrew Redleaf Head of the Minneapolis-based hedge fund Whitebox Advisors. Used credit default swaps to short the subprime mortgage market in 2006.
Josh Rosner Former Wall Street analyst who grew skeptical of the housing boom. Published a research paper entitled “A Home without Equity Is Just a Rental with Debt” in 2001.
KEY ACRONYMS
ABCP: Asset-backed commercial paper. Very short-term loans, allowing firms to conduct their daily business, backed by mortgages or other assets. Part of the “plumbing” of Wall Street.
ABS: Asset-backed securities. Bonds comprising thousands of loans—which could include credit card debt, student loans, auto loans, and mortgages—bundled together into a security.
AIG: American International Group.
ARM: Adjustable-rate mortgage.
CDOs: Collateralized debt obligations. Securities that comprise the debt of different companies or tranches of asset-backed securities.
CDOs Squared: Collateralized debt obligations squared. Securities backed by tranches of other CDOs.
CFTC: Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Government agency that regulates the futures industry.
CSE: Consolidated supervised entities. An effort by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2004 to create a voluntary supervisory regime to regulate the big investment bank holding companies.
FCIC: Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Commission charged by Congress with investigating the causes of the financial crisis.
FDIC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Government agency that insures bank deposits and takes over failing banks. Also plays a supervisory role over the banking industry.
FHA: Federal Housing Administration.
GAO: General Accounting Office. Government agency that conducts investigations at the request of members of Congress.
GSEs: Government-sponsored enterprises. Washington-speak for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
HOEPA: The Homeownership and Equity Protection Act. A 1994 law giving the Federal Reserve the authority to prohibit abusive lending practices.
HUD: Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sets “affordable housing goals” for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
LTCM: Long-Term Capital Management. Large hedge fund that collapsed in 1998.
MBS: Mortgage-backed securities.
NRSROs: Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organizations. The three major credit rating agencies, Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch, were granted this status by the government.
OCC: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The primary national bank regulator.
OFHEO: Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s regulator from 1992 to 2008.
OTS: Office of Thrift Supervision. Regulated the S&L industry, as well as certain other financial institutions, including AIG.
PWG: President’s Working Group on Financial Markets. Consists of the secretary of the Treasury and the chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the