Infectious Greed - How Deceit and Risk Corrupted the Financial Markets - Hardcover

Partnoy, Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1861974388 ISBN 13: 9781861974389

Publisher: Profile Books, 2003

Synopsis

Enron was an energy trading company. Its business model was hailed as revolutionary. Analysts were unanimous in recommending investors to buy Enron shares. The share price soared to 1,990 dollars in April 2001. Eight months later it all fell apart. It transpired that Enron's accounts were disguised by a raft of off-balance sheet items; that the company had been up to its neck in trading derivatives of such Byzantine complexity that almost no-one understood them; that Enron's top management had made fortunes by selling shares when the price was sky high and when they knew that the company was in danger; and that Enron had spent millions buying political favours in every country it operated. Enron's nasty smell pervaded Congress and reached the Oval office, and the collapse of the company hit banks, pension funds and private investors around the world. But what Enron had been doing was no different to what many companies - aided by their auditors - do all the time, what they put on their balance sheet and what they hide off it, and how they exploit unfathomable derivatives.

About this title

About the Author

Frank Partnoy was a trader at Morgan Stanley before turning from gamekeeper to poacher and becoming professor of law and finance at the University of San Diego. He is one of the world's leading experts on the complexities of modern finance and financial market regulation and writes regularly for the Financial Times. He is the author ofF.I.A.S.C.O. [9781846682384], The Match King [9781861979384] and Infectious Greed [9781846682933].

Edition details

• Publisher: Profile Books
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1861974388
• ISBN 13: 9781861974389
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 466