1981 TAX ACT. Officially, the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981; law that reduced marginal income tax rates and boosted tax shelters.
1986 TAX REFORM ACT. Law that ended many abusive tax shelters.
AKERLOF, GEORGE. Nobel prize-winning economist.
AMBERG, RUTH. Bank Board counsel and my aide on FSLIC recap.
AMERICAN SAVINGS. Largest S&L, victimized by fraud.
ANDERSON, JACK. Syndicated columnist.
ANDREWS, MIKE (D-TX). Congressman allied with Jim Wright.
ANGOTTI, OTTAVIO. Senior officer at Consolidated Savings Bank.
ANNUNZIO, FRANK (D-IL). Member of the House Banking Committee.
ATCHISON, JACK. AY audit partner for Lincoln Savings.
BAKER, JAMES. Secretary of the Treasury under Ronald Reagan.
BANK BOARD. Federal regulator of Savings and Loans.
BARABOLAK, ALEX. Lead FHLB-Chicago examiner of ACC.
BARCLAY, GEORGE. CEO of FHLB-Dallas.
BARNARD, DRUIE DOUGLAS, JR. (D-GA). Member of the House Banking Committee.
BARRY, JOHN. Author of a book about Jim Wright.
BARTH, JIM. Bank Board chief economist.
BARTLETT, HARRY STEPHEN “STEVE” (R-TX). Member of the House Banking Committee.
BASS, ROBERT. Texas billionaire who acquired American Savings.
BEEBE, HERMANN K. Head of a daisy chain of control frauds.
BENNETT, ROBERT. Investigated the Keating Five for the Senate.
BENSTON, GEORGE. Economist for Lincoln Savings.
BEVERLY HILLS SAVINGS. Failed California S&L.
BIG 8. Top-tier accounting firms in the 1980s.
BILBY, RICHARD M. Judge who presided over Lincoln Savings cases.
BINSTEIN, MICHAEL. Reporter who exposed Charles Keating’s crimes.
BIVENS SUIT. Suit against a government employee in his personal capacity, alleging violation of a constitutional right.
BREEDON, RICHARD. SEC chairman under George H. W. Bush.
BOESKY, IVAN. Insider-trading felon.
BOLAND, JAMES. Danny Wall’s chief of staff.
BOWMAN, LIN. Texas S&L commissioner.
BOWSER, GARY. House Banking Committee aide.
BROOKES, WARREN. Columnist who criticized Jim Wright.
BROOKS, JACK. Texas congressman allied with Jim Wright.
BUSH, GEORGE H. W. Vice president under Ronald Reagan, put in charge of financial deregulation.
BUSH, NEIL. Silverado Savings director.
CARPER, THOMAS (D-DE). Member of the House Banking Committee.
CASH FOR TRASH. Fraud scheme in which S&Ls used “straw” purchasers to buy problem assets at inflated prices.
CHAPMAN, JAMES (D-TX). Won special election to the House with aid of Texas S&Ls.
CHENEY, RICHARD “DICK” (R-WY). Congressman, 1979–1990.
CIRONA, JAMES. President of the FHLBSF.
CITRON, ROBERT. Treasurer who caused the bankruptcy of Orange County.
CLARKE, RICHARD. FHLB-Seattle staff member who met with Charles Keating.
COELHO, ANTHONY “TONY” (D-CA). Chairman of the DCCC and House whip.
COMMODORE SAVINGS. Texas S&L that aided Gaubert’s lobbying.
COMPETITION IN LAXITY. Environment in which state and federal regulatory agencies compete for regulatees by weakening regulation; also known as a “race to the bottom.”
CONNALLY, JOHN. Former governor of Texas; defaulted on loans to Lincoln Savings.
CONSENT TO MERGER. Resolution by the board of a failing or failed S&L that allowed the FSLIC to try to arrange a merger partner.
CONTROL FRAUDS. Frauds by those who control a firm or country.
CRANSTON, ALAN (D-CA). Senator, member of the Keating Five.
CRAWFORD, WILLIAM. Commissioner of the CDSL.
CRIMINOGENIC. Describing an environment that encourages crime.
CURLEE, DURWARD. Organized Texas opposition to reregulation.
DAISY CHAIN. Informal group of control frauds that engaged in transactions with one another in order to hide their frauds from regulators.
DAVIS, WILLIAM. Deputy commissioner of the CDSL.
DAY, KATHLEEN. Business reporter for the Washington Post.
DECONCINI, DENNIS (D-AZ). Senator, member of the Keating Five.
DE NOVOS. Newly created and chartered S&Ls.
DESUPERVISION. Reduction of supervisory personnel or powers.
DEVENEY, JAMES. House Banking Committee aide.
DINGELL, JOHN (D-MI). Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
DIXON, DONALD. CEO of Vernon Savings.
DOCHOW, DARREL. Head of Bank Board supervision.
DORNAN, ROBERT (R-CA). Congressman, 1977–1996.
DUNCAN, PHIL. Aide to Jim Wright.
ECKHARDT, ROBERT (D-TX). Congressman, ally of Jim Wright.
ELY, BERT. Financial economist.
EMPIRE SAVINGS. First major Texas control fraud failure.
FAIRBANKS, ANN. Edwin Gray’s chief of staff.
FAULK, WALTER. Senior FHLB-Dallas supervisor.
FAULSTICH, JAMES. President of the FHLB-Seattle.
FED or FEDERAL RESERVE. Board of governors of the Federal Reserve System.
FERRANTE, ROBERT. CEO of Consolidated Savings.
FIELD VISIT. Short, focused audit rather than a “full scope” examination.
FISHBEIN, PETER. Lincoln Savings’ top outside counsel
FORBEARANCE. In financial regulation, the policy of not taking enforcement action against certain rule violations.
“FULL SCOPE” EXAMINATION. Audit that covers all safety and soundness issues and all business operations.
GARDNER, MICHAEL “MICKEY.” Outside counsel for Charles Keating.
GARN-ST GERMAIN ACT OF 1982. Principal federal deregulation legislation.
GARN, EDWIN JACOB “JAKE” (R-UT). Senate Banking Committee chairman; also ranking minority member of the committee.
GAUBERT, THOMAS. CEO of Independent American.
GERSHON KEKST AND COMPANY. Charles Keating’s PR firm.
GLENN, JOHN (D-OH). Senator, member of the Keating Five.
GINGRICH, NEWTON “NEWT” (R-GA). Congressman, later Speaker of the House.
GONZALEZ, HENRY B. (D-TX). Chairman of the House Banking Committee (1989–1994).
GOODWILL. Accounting term for market value in excess of net tangible-asset value.
GRAMM, PHILIP “PHIL” (R-TX). Member and later chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
GRAY, EDWIN. Bank Board chairman.
GREEN, ROY. President of the FHLB-Dallas.
GREENMAIL. Form of extortion in which a buyer threatens a hostile takeover in order to induce management to purchase the buyer’s shares at a premium.
GREENSPAN, ALAN. Chairman of the Fed.
GRIGSBY, MARY. Bank Board member.
GROGAN, JAMES. Charles Keating’s principal lobbyist.
GUY, DAN. AICPA’s head of auditing in January 1994.
HAAS, RICHARD. Executive director of the Bank Board under Danny Wall.
HALL, CRAIG. Texas real estate developer, aided by Jim Wright.
HARWELL, AUBREY. Outside counsel who investigated the Bank Board for Jim Wright.
HEMEL, ERIC. Top economist on the Bank Board.
HENKEL, LEE. Charles Keating’s mole on the Bank Board.
HERSHKOWITZ, STEVE. Deputy enforcement director for the Bank Board.
HETEROSKEDASTICITY. Statistical term that indicates that the nature of the relationship between two variables is not constant.
“HIGH FLIERS.” Industry term for S&L control frauds.
HINZ, WILLIAM. President of Lincoln Savings.
HOVDE, DONALD. Bank Board member.
HOYLE, KARL. Bank Board director of Congressional and Public Affairs.
INDEPENDENT AMERICAN. Control fraud run by Thomas Gaubert.
JONES, DAY. Law firm that conducted a “regulatory audit” for Lincoln Savings.
JUNOT, PHILIPPE. Former husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.
KAYE, SCHOLER. Primary counsel for Lincoln Savings.
KEATING, CHARLES. Controlled Lincoln Savings.
KEATING FIVE. Group of five U.S. senators (Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, John Glenn, John McCain, and Donald Riegle) who pressured the Bank Board at Charles Keating’s behest.
KING, THOMAS. Executive director of the Texas League.
KITCHEN CABINET. Informal advisers to a president.
KLEPTOCRACY. Government run by those seeking personal gain rather than the common good.
KNAPP, CHARLES. CEO of American Savings.
KRUCKEBERG, TIMOTHY. Inside lawyer for Charles Keating.
LAND FLIP. Fraud scheme in which “straw” purchasers are used to sell the same property repeatedly in order to inflate its value.
LARSON, CAROL. Bank Board accountant.
LEACH, JAMES (R-IA). Member of the House Banking Committee.
LEAGUE, THE. Principal S&L trade association.
LEMONS MARKET. Market in which sellers can judge quality but buyers cannot.
LEVITT, ARTHUR. SEC Chairman under Bill Clinton.
LEWIS, JAKE. Senior aide to the House Banking Committee.
LINCOLN SAVINGS. California control fraud led by Charles Keating.
LINDNER, CARL. Charles Keating’s mentor.
LUKE, JORDAN. Danny Wall’s general counsel.
MACK, JOHN. Jim Wright’s chief of staff.
MAHER, BISHOP LEO. Arranged Don Dixon’s meeting with the pope.
MALLICK, GEORGE. Friend, employer, and partner of Jim Wright and his wife.
MANION, DANIEL A. Judge appointed by Reagan with the aid of Charles Keating.
MANNING, MICHAEL. Lawyer with Morrison & Hecker, outside counsel for the FDIC.
MARTIN, ROGER. Bank Board member.
MATTOX, JAMES. Attorney general of Texas.
MCALLISTER, WALTER “BO,” III. President of the Texas League.
MCBIRNEY, EDWARD. CEO of Sunbelt Savings.
MCCAIN, JOHN (R-AZ). Senator, member of the Keating Five.
MCJOYNT, PATRICIA. FHLB-Seattle staff member who met with Charles Keating.
MEEK, JOHN J., II. FHLB-Chicago examiner of ACC.
MEESE, EDWIN. Attorney general under Ronald Reagan.
MEHLE, ROGER. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
MERRILL LYNCH. Investment banking firm and the largest deposit broker.
MILKEN, MICHAEL. Felon and leading junk bond manipulator.
MORAL HAZARD. Condition in which risks and benefits are asymmetrical, thereby encouraging excessive risk taking or fraud.
MORRISON & HECKER. Government’s outside counsel in actions against Charles Keating.
MURPHY, JAMES. Partner at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey.
NEIBEL, JOHN. Dean of the University of Houston Law Center.
NELSON, PAUL. Senior aide to the House Banking Committee.
NEWSOM, RICHARD. CDSL examiner of Lincoln Savings.
NICHOLS, DOROTHY. Bank Board litigation director.
NOLAN, PAT. California state senator who authored S&L deregulation.
NOLAN ACT. 1983 law deregulating California-chartered S&Ls.
NORTH AMERICA SAVINGS. California control fraud.
O’CONNELL, KEVIN. Senior supervisor at the Bank Board.
O’CONNELL, WILLIAM. Head of the S&L trade association.
O’NEILL, THOMAS “TIP,” JR. (D-MA). Speaker of the House, 1977–1987.
PARRIS, STANFORD “STAN” (R-VA). Member of the House Banking Committee.
PASHAYAN, CHARLES (R-CA). Congressman, ally of Charles Keating.
PATRIARCA, MIKE. Lead supervisor at the FHLBSF.
PAUL, DAVID. CEO of Centrust Savings.
PETERSON, RICHARD. Douglas Barnard’s top aide.
PITT, HARVEY. SEC chairman under George H. W. Bush.
PONTELL, HENRY. Criminologist who studied S&L fraud.
PONZI. Fraudulent scheme in which new money is used to pay prior victims; named for Charles Ponzi, an American swindler.
POPEJOY, WILLIAM. Charles Knapp’s successor as CEO of American Savings.
PRATT, RICHARD. Bank Board chairman.
PRINS, CURTIS. Ottavio Annunzio’s aide.
PROXMIRE, WILLIAM (D-WI). Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
PRYOR, DAVID (D-AR). Member of the Senate Ethics Committee; Bank Board critic.
“RACE TO THE BOTTOM.” See “Competition in laxity.”
RAIDEN, NORM. General counsel to the Bank Board.
RAUPE, CRAIG. Close friend of Jim Wright.
REGAN, DONALD. Ronald Reagan’s first treasury secretary (1981-1985), later his chief of staff (1985–1987).
REGULATION Q. Rule that restricted the interest rates that banks could pay depositors.
RENDA, MARIO. Defrauded dozens of banks and S&Ls.
REREGULATOR. The worst insult possible in the Reagan administration.
RIDGLEA MEETING. Meeting between Jim Wright and opponents of the FSLIC recap.
RIEGLE, DONALD (D-MI). Senator, member of the Keating Five.
RILEY, DAVID. FHLB-Atlanta examiner of Lincoln Savings.
ROBERTSON, BILL. Director of ORPOS.
ROEMER, CHARLES ELSON “BUDDY” (D-LA). Member of the House Banking Committee.
“RULE 11” LETTER. Threatens to seek sanctions against counsel.
RYAN, TIMOTHY. Director of the OTS.
SAHADI, ROBERT. Chief economist at the Bank Board.
SANFORD, JAMES TERRY (D-NC). Member of the Senate Ethics Committee.
SARATOGA SAVINGS. California control fraud.
SARBANES-OXLEY ACT. Reform legislation addressing financial scandals.
SAUTER, MARK. Director of regulatory compliance for Lincoln Savings.
SCHILLING, WILLIAM. Head of Bank Board supervision.
SCHOTT, PAUL ALLEN. Assistant general counsel for the Treasury Department.
SCHULTZ, SCOTT. FHLBSF supervisor who angered Jim Wright.
SCOTT, STEVEN. Bank Board examiner of Lincoln Savings in 1988.
SECONDARY RESERVE. Accounting term and concept that allowed the FSLIC insurance fund to count noncash reserves as if they were real.
SEIDMAN, WILLIAM. FDIC chairman.
SELBY, JOSEPH. Lead supervisor at the FHLB-Dallas.
SEGAL, TOM. Bank Board litigation attorney.
SHAND, ERIC. Senior supervisor at the FHLBSF.
SMUZYNSKI, AL. Senior supervisor at the Bank Board.
SOBOL, ANNE. Bank Board litigator who investigated Charles Keating.
SOLOMON, MIKE. Bank Board counsel and my aide on the FSLIC recap.
“SOUTHWEST PLAN.” Controversial 1988 plan by Bank Board chairman Danny Wall to sell failed S&Ls in the southwestern United States.
SQUIRE, SANDERS & DEMPSEY. Counsel to the FHLBB.
STELZER, GENE. CDSL examiner of Lincoln Savings.
STEWART, ROSEMARY. Head of OE at the Bank Board.
ST GERMAIN, FERNAND (D-RI). House Banking Committee chairman.
STILL, RICHARD. House Banking Committee counsel.
STRAUSS, ROBERT “BOB.” Democratic Party leader.
“STRAW.” Someone purporting to act independently but secretly acting on another’s behalf.
SUNBELT SAVINGS. One of the most notorious of the Texas control frauds.
SYSTEMS CAPACITY. Inability or unwillingness of an agency to take effective action against crime because of resource constraints.
TAGGART, LAWRENCE. California S&L commissioner.
“TAX SHARING” AGREEMENT. Agreement among affiliated companies to file a consolidated tax return and to allocate the tax liability among the affiliates.
TAYLOR, MARY ELLEN. Edwin Gray’s principal aide for congressional relations.
TRUMP GROUP, THE. Proposed acquirer of Lincoln Savings (not affiliated with Donald Trump).
TUTTLE, ROBERT. White House personnel director under Ronald Reagan.
VERMIN. Term regulators used for Vernon Savings.
VERNON SAVINGS. Texas control fraud run by Don Dixon.
VINCENT, JANET. AY auditor who replaced Jack Atchison at Lincoln.
VOLCKER, PAUL. Chairman of the Fed.
WALL, M. DANNY. Bank Board chairman.
WAXMAN, MARGERY. Lawyer with Sidley & Austin; counsel to Charles Keating and Lee Henkel.
WEBSTER, (JUDGE) WILLIAM. FBI director.
WEINSTEIN, HARRIS. Chief counsel for the OTS.
WELLS, JOSEPH. Head of the ACFE.
WESTERN SAVINGS. Thrift that acquired failed Texas S&Ls before it itself failed.
WESTWOOD SAVINGS. Lead lender to Craig Hall.
WHITE, LARRY. Bank Board member.
WHITE, MARK. Lieutenant governor of Texas.
WILLIAMS, JULIE. Senior counsel for the Bank Board.
WISCHER, JUDY. CEO of Lincoln Savings.
WRIGHT, BETTY. Second wife of Jim Wright.
WRIGHT, JAMES “JIM,” JR. (D-TX). Speaker of the House, 1987–1989.
WYLIE, CHALMERS P. (R-OH). Member of the House Banking Committee.