For example, those in senior management may not have been cognizant of a firm's overall concentration to U.S. subprime mortgages, because they did not realize that in addition to the subprime mortgages on their books, they had exposure through off-balance-sheet vehicles holding such mortgages, through claims on counterparties exposed to subprime, and through certain complex securities.
Jean-Claude Trichet: Introduction and chair of the panel on “Stylised facts of globalisation and world inflation” Speech by Mr Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, at the International Symposium on “Globalisation, Inflation and Monetary Policy”, organised by the Bank of France, Paris, 7 March 2008.