Financial Regulators Are Still Flying Blind

The recent turmoil in emerging markets raises an urgent question: If things get worse, if markets plunge or a government defaults, do regulators know which banks, hedge funds or other institutions are most at risk?

Almost six years after the crash, with financial regulation overhauled in the U.S. and elsewhere, you'd expect the answer to be yes. Actually, the short answer is no. Regulators charged with overseeing the financial system have vastly more data than they did before the last crisis, but not much more of a clue.