New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has filed a civil lawsuit against Ernst & Young, alleging that the accounting giant helped now-defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers hide billions of dollars in debt from its investors via loans disguised as sales.
In a New York Times op-ed, billionaire investor Warren Buffett expressed gratitude for the U.S.'s swift action: "In this extraordinary emergency, you came through -- and the world would look far different now if you had not."
The financial crisis was produced by a complex set of circumstances, including a massive housing bubble, poor regulation and irresponsible lending on an epic scale. A handful of bankers became the public faces of the crisis, and now, two years later, we take a look at what became of them.
This week marks the second anniversary of an event that shook the financial industry to its core. In her newly released book, The Weekend that Changed Wall Street, CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo gives an insider's look at the fateful days surrounding the fall of Lehman Brothers.
The capital markets have recovered nicely from the depths of the financial crisis's despair, though skittishness remains. What the economy sorely needs now is the next big thing -- perhaps a new technology that boosts business productivity.