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The Big Short (2015) - FrontPoint Partners confronts Morgan Stanley Risk Assessors and S&P

Extractor0 HN recommenders · 2017–2026
4.1M views · other · evergreen · Uploaded 2017-03-07

A five-minute clip from The Big Short (2015) in which FrontPoint Partners confront Morgan Stanley risk assessors and an S&P ratings representative about inflated mortgage bond ratings.

Used as a shorthand scene for conflicts of interest where auditors or raters are paid by the entities they judge.

Macroeconomics & financial crisesFilm & TV clips

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4 comments from Hacker News

@klenwell2017 · in “Why Sub-Prime Lenders Didn’t Cause the Housing Crash (2015)”

Funny you suggest market competition. In The Big Short movie, it's competition that the ratings agency rep played Melissa Leo cites to explain their corrupt ratings: Georgia: If we don't give them the rating, they go to Moody's. Right down the street. If we don't work with them, they will go to our competitors. Not our fault. Simply the way the world works. Vinnie: Holy shit. Georgia: Yes, now you see. And I never said that. [VIDEO]

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@Cactus20182019 · in “Inflated Bond Ratings Helped Spur the Financial Crisis. They’re Back”

>Bank needs a rating on a asset, but their incentive is to get a "better" rating, not a more honest one. There are multiple agencies, so banks shop around for the most favorable one. So, as soon as one agency loosens their ratings, they all follow suit. They sell good ratings. That's the industry. Memorable scene from The Big Short (2015) - "FrontPoint Partners confronts S&P" [VIDEO]

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@bumpian2022 · in “Moody’s downgrade UK outlook to negative”

Why people still trust these ratings from Moody's, S&P, etc? Did we forget what happened in 2008? [VIDEO]

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@sunir2026 · in “Mercor Hit by Cyberattack”

It doesn't force you go through risk modelling because by now most SOC2 platforms have templates you just fill in the blanks and sign off. Conversely, the auditors are paid by the company, so their incentive is to pass the audit so the client can get what it wants. Because there's no adversarial pressure as a check and balance to the security, and AICPA is clearly just happy to take the fees, it's a hollow shirt. It's like this scene from The Big Short. [VIDEO] As usual, it's only people that care that force positive change. The companies that want good security will have good security. Customers who want good security will demand good security.

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