"We were not designed or structured to be the most important company in the entire financial system," said Jay Brown on February 19th as he returned to mbia, charged with steadying the company he had run from 1999 to 2004. You may think otherwise, given the markets' fevered concern over the "monoline" bond insurers. Thanks to unwise forays into mortgage-backed securities, an industry that a year ago was basking in profitable obscurity now stands accused of endangering large chunks of the financial system, including Wall Street banks and the huge market for municipal bonds.
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