Several employees of the financial management firm Bear Stearns & Co. have come forward to lay blame for it's banking meltdown on one particular individual; the company librarian.
Traditionally the librarian is there to help brokers source information that will aid them in their decision-making process. However they seldom if ever are consulted on policy making.
Sandra Holdesworth, a graduate with a B.A. in Library Sciences from a midwestern college, worked at the firm's New York headquarters for less than 18 months.
Of the librarian, lead broker Dan Kleverling has stated the following,
"Look. I didn't know a derivative from a junk bond until that Holdesworth chick took me into her office, shut the drapes and started reciting the Greek alphabet and some really cool math formulas. It didn't help that she had a penchant for leather, short skirts, and a horsewhip mounted on the wall. And she's also pretty swift with Powerpoint."
Several other employees corroborated Kleverling's story, suggesting there was a certain amount of coercion involved, with an ever-present undertone of S & M.
"It wasn't until I heard that she was a niece of (FIA chairman) Max Mosley's that I started to clue into the 'big picture'", Kleverling added as an afterthought.
