Back then, you could shop for your regulator. Often companies shopped for the most lax regulator. AIG purchased a tiny credit union and then got themselves to

Back then, you could shop for your regulator. Often companies shopped for the most lax regulator. AIG purchased a tiny credit union and then got themselves to be regulated by the "Office of Thrift Supervision": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Thrift_Supervision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Thrift_Supervision The wikipedia article has details on the other organizations who did this. Should AIG have been regulated by a tiny 30-person regulator? You judge, here is AIG's credit presentation: http://www.aig.com/Chartis/internet/US/en/FinalConf_revised_08-13-08_tcm3171-443279.pdf http://www.aig.com/Chartis/internet/US/en/FinalConf_revised_... AIG had a 1/2 Trillion USD one-way unhedged credit default swap exposure, amongst other exposures.