"Self-regulation", Citi style

Citigroup Saw No Red Flags Even as It Made Bolder Bets
NYT
By ERIC DASH and JULIE CRESWELL
Published: November 22, 2008
... But many Citigroup insiders say the bank’s risk managers never investigated deeply enough. Because of longstanding ties that clouded their judgment, the very people charged with overseeing deal makers eager to increase short-term earnings — and executives’ multimillion-dollar bonuses — failed to rein them in, these insiders say.

Again: the next time your respected opponent mentions "self-regulation", laugh loudly.

Digression: The article cited above reads a lot like similar post-mortem articles written about Enron.
Seems no one paid much attention to the dynamics of Enron's failure once the blame was pinned on Lay, Skilling, and Fastow.
"Just a few bad apples - that could never happen here!"

Yes, Lay was willfully, negligently ignorant. Yes, Skilling pushed beyond the bounds of prudent business practice; and yes, Fastow was more than happy to take advantage of Skilling's greed to line his own pockets... but the real story was the complete failure of Enron's internal controls.

... and, yes: it could happen "here" - wherever "here" might be!