The Warning is a terrific Frontline documentary about Brooksley Born’s efforts to regulate derivatives prior to the financial meltdown in the face of relentless opposition from Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers. As described in Wikipedia:
Born served “from August 26, 1996, to June 1, 1999, [as] chairperson of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency which oversees the futures and commodity options markets. During her tenure on the CFTC, Born lobbied Congress and the President to give the CFTC oversight of off-exchange markets for derivatives in addition to its role with respect to exchange-traded derivatives, but her warnings were opposed by other regulators.Born resigned as chairperson on June 1, 1999, shortly after Congress passed legislation prohibiting her agency from regulating derivatives.
In 2008 Greenspan appeared before Congress and admitted, “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief,” going so are as to say he was “partially” wrong.
All I can say is, yikes! If Greenspan really believed that lending institutions really cared about shareholder’s equity he somehow missed the last several decades of widespread personal greed that have pervaded Wall Street.
As far as I know Greenspan, Summers (as reported in the New Yorker) and Rubin (as reported in the Washington Post) never apologized to Brooksley Born. Only Former S.E.C. Chairman Arthur Levitt eventually told her he was sorry.
You can read more here: The Warning: Brooksley Born’s Battle With Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin And Larry Summers – Business Insider.