Bear Stearns: Moustache-twirlers

The drama of Bear Stearns’ downfall has a lot of potential villains. US market watchdogs want to know whether the roster of antagonists should include the investment bank’s trading partners. That makes for good theatre, and may be applauded by the firm’s battered shareholders. But it’s going to be difficult to unmask any real moustache-twirlers. The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining Bear’s trading records for the weeks leading up to its collapse, when clients pulled money and co...