The financial crisis has dominated the headlines.  The effect of Wall Street on Main Street was a central battle-cry during the U.S. presidential elections and as recently as April 14, 2009, President Obama spoke to an audience at Georgetown University, trying to explain, among other things, traditional securitization and credit default swaps. This article has been reproduced with permission of the publisher from Corporate Securities and Finance Law Report, Vol. 14, No. 3, June/August, 2009.