So Greenspan took CIBC to court a month later to compel the bank to talk, but he got nowhere. I was very concerned about my bank's exposure. CIBC isn't an isolated case. Among U.S. institutions the dollar amounts are so huge and the risks so high that bankers recoil when the topic is raised. But they may soon have to talk.
Derivatives are a kind of nuclear financial instrument.
They are powerful and highly complicated agreements designed to offset certain financial risks. Under steady conditions they work well. But in derivatives, like nuclear mishaps, there are no small accidents. And now comes the bad news. The former describes the possibility that you've bet the wrong way.