"If something goes wrong, it's going to be a big mess " That 2004 warning came during the SEC's approval of a new regulation intended to help investment banks avoid regulation. Confusing? In 1998 the large hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management was close to collapse. The Federal Reserve deemed it sufficiently large to present systemic risk and organized a "rescue" by a group of its largest banks. No taxpayer money was involved, but the event caught the eye of Congress. Congressmen and government officials vowed that something needed to be done about financial risk and regulation. Then...