Joel Tillinghast on financial companies

Financial companies are the jackpot for scam artists who want to get their hands on other people's money.  Clients routinely trust banks and brokers with their assets.  For each $1 billion of equity, most banks hold deposits and borrowings in excess of $10 billion.  An electronic record of a loan or security corresponds to another electronic or paper document, not a physical property.  Even if accountants view the physical collateral supporting a loan, they also need to know the other liens and contractual wording.  Often these documents are confidential.  The combination of opaqueness and other people's money may explain why many of the largest fraud cases involve financnial firms.

~ Joel Tillinghast, Big Money Thinks Small, p. 130