Welcome to my blog and website for Uncontrolled Risk.
I wrote this book with one simple goal: explain the origins of the financial crisis and reduce the chance of such an event occurring again.
Mark T. Williams is a nationally recognized risk management expert in the field of banking. Since 2002, Mark has been on the Finance and Economics faculty at Boston University where he teaches courses in risk management, economic activity and capital markets. He holds the academic rank of Executive-in-Residence/Master Lecturer. He also consults with major banking institutions.
Prior to Boston University, Mark held positions in banking, as a Federal Reserve Bank examiner and as a senior executive for a major trading company. Frequently he is asked by media to provide thought leadership on financial risk management related matters.
Since 1997, Mark has resided with his wife and two daughters in Newton, Massachusetts. He is an avid bike rider, and commutes to Boston University from his home year round.
Uncontrolled Risk: The Lessons of Lehman Brothers and How Systemic Risk Can Still Bring Down the World Financial System
The lessons of Lehman Brothers we are still living and learning. Uncontrolled Risk uses the rise and fall of Lehman Brothers to explain how excessive risk taking caused the greatest bankruptcy in history and triggered a global financial meltdown. Told through the eyes of an experienced trading floor executive, former Fed banker and now business school teacher , Uncontrolled Risk quickly takes the reader through financial industry time travel.
The goal of the book is simple: The more we know why Lehman Brothers failed the more we can reduce the chance of such an event occurring again. Uncontrolled Risk starts by tracing the transition of Lehman Brothers from a dry goods merchant in the Deep South, to cotton trader, and eventual top Wall Street investment bank. Next, in a clear and informative way, the author describes the historical roots of modern investment banking, its important economic role in connecting borrowers and lenders, the advent of securitization, the creation of derivatives, and how significant amounts of capital can be destroyed when this vital banking role is not met.
It is an important story not just because of what happened on Wall Street but what did not happen in Washington. It is a story about failed policy and the inability of regulators to supervise the activities on Wall Street. Politicians have been very quick at pointing a finger at Wall Street and saying wild risk taking caused the downfall of firms like Lehman. And while this statement is partially correct it ignores the fact that oversized risk taking happened over a period of years under regulatory oversight.
There are numerous lessons to take away from this book. Lehman Brothers did not go bust solely due to mismanagement. There were many enablers and deciders that contributed. And while the instruments traded on Wall Street are very complex, the reason why Lehman Brothers and many other financial firms failed was very simple, excessive risk was taken and not controlled. Regulators and policymakers also failed to understand that they too were in the risk management business.
When finished, the reader comes away with a true understanding of the importance of strong risk management, the weaknesses in our current market system and the urgent need for meaningful financial industry reform. Without such reform, the risk of another Lehman Brothers type collapse remains.
Download Chapter 1
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New York Journal of Books
Andrew Rosenbaum
"Risk manager Mark T. Williams has not written sarcasms, but rather truisms that are carrying weight in Washington. The book, Uncontrolled Risk: The Lessons of Lehman Brothers and How Systemic Risk Can Still Bring Down the Financial System, is making hay on the Beltway. . ." (Read more)
Michael James on Money
"The credit crisis that exploded in 2008 affected people across the planet, but few of us understand what happened to cause it all. Risk management expert Mark T. Williams wrote the book Uncontrolled Risk that tells the story of Lehman Brothers fall and more generally the events leading to the credit crisis. . ." (Read more)
Mark T. Williams Fox Interview
Interview with The Young Turks
April 15, 2010
"Fannie Execs Blame Failure On Biz Model"
NPR Marketplace, American Public Media - April 9, 2010
"The Case Against Goldman Sachs"
Bloomberg - April 28, 2010
"Williams Sees 'Lack of Accountability' in FCIC Testimony"
Bloomberg - April 9, 2010
AUDIO - Click PLAY to hear
"'A Cancer that Spread:' Bring Derivatives Out of the Shadows Former Bank Examiner Says"
Yahoo! Finance - April 19, 2010
Media Coverage
Business Daily: Soaring Gold Prices
BBC Radio Interview (audio included)
Fools Gold
Foreign Policy - November 10, 2010
Two Years After Lehman, Risk of Financial Collapse is Still High
Reuters - September 15, 2010
Ignore the Hyperbole: America is Not Bust (Subscripton Required)
The Financial Times - September 8, 2010
Basel III Quick Fix is Neither
Canadian Business Online - October 25, 2010
Few Silver Linings When Gold Bubble Bursts
The Financial Times - October 17, 2010
Lehman Sale Blank Check May Haunt Judge at Barclays Trial
Bloomberg - October 5, 2010
The Major Risk Management Challenge of this Decade (Subscription Required)
Global Association of Risk Professionals - October 1, 2010
Author Series with Mark Williams
Harvard Club of Boston- October 1, 2010
Slew of measures two years on from Lehman collapse offers few answers
Fund Strategy - September 13, 2010
Goldman Sachs banning bad words in e-mails
NECN - July 29, 2010 (video included)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Financial Reform
BU Today - July 26, 2010
The Brown Effect On Financial Overhaul
WBUR Radio - July 14, 2010 (audio included)
Newton man publishes book on demise of Lehman BrothersWicked Local Newton - July 13, 2010
The weak link in bank reform
The Boston Globe - July 8, 2010
Canadian banks tops with U.S. professor
The Globe and Mail - July 4, 2010
UD grad’s book makes case for reform in post-Lehman world
The News Journal - July 1, 2010
The G-20 Superpowers Should Learn From Canada
The Motley Fool - June 28, 2010
Learning from Wall Street’s failures
The Boston Globe - June 27, 2010
Learning from Lehman Brothers
BU Today - June 17, 2010
Uncontrolled Risk Blog
Michael James - June 15, 2010
Mark T. Williams: Finance and Economics faculty at Boston University
Exchange Magazine - June 15, 2010
Podcast Audio Interview Blog
Preet Banerjee - June 13, 2010
"UD alum writes book on Lehman, financial crisis and important lessons learned"
UDaily - June 10, 2010
"What Needs to Happen for Wall Street to Fix Compensation"
The Wall Street Journal - June 9, 2010
Uncontrolled Risk makes it on Bloomberg radio host Tom Keene’s recommended list
Amazon
"Mark Williams: ‘Uncontrolled Risk’ Triggered GlobalMeltdown" Audio Interview
WBUR Radio - May 17, 2010
Book Signing and Discussion
Barnes & Noble - May 18, 2010
"Dow Takes A Dive" Audio Interview (Begins at 25:57)
WBUR Radio - May 7, 2010
"How Computers Have Transformed the Stock Market.”
Yahoo! Finance - May 7, 2010
“What the Heck Happened to the Stock Market Yesterday?”
Interview on The Emily Rooney Show
WGBH Radio - April 27, 2010
"Lehman’s Fuld Snubbed Risk Managers, Nerds Got Revenge"
Bloomberg - April 21, 2010
"Is it time to reform Fannie, Freddie?"
NPR Marketplace - May 10, 2010 (audio included)
"Bank Earnings Soar But Another 'Financial Eruption' Is Looming, Former Bank Regulator Says"
Yahoo! Finance - April 16, 2010 (video included)
"Derivatives Trading Comes Clean in the Open: Mark T. Williams"
Bloomberg - April 16, 2010
"Fannie, Freddie execs 'splainin'"
BU Now - April 9, 2010
"Reform Effort Loses Sight of a Big Problem: Bank's Interconnectedness"
American Banker - April 8, 2010
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Uncontrolled Risk can be purchased at the following locations:
