INSIDE COMPLIANCE

The 2008 financial collapse occurred when banks began substantially increasing access to debt. They offered adjustable-rate mortgages to borrowers who could afford the initial mortgage payments, but would end up defaulting on the loans when their adjustable interest rates kicked in. The banks then subsequently packaged these high-risk loans together and sold them as securities to mutual funds, investment banks, and pension funds. When most of these high-risk loans defaulted, the market crashed. The recession that followed cost the public thousands of jobs, homes, and retirement accounts.