In other words, regulators intend to end the days when subprime mortgages were packaged as securities by the original lender and sold with no further recourse.

FORBES: Don't Look For Housing To Help The Economy, Says Shilling

Initially, it described collective investment vehicles, often organised as private partnerships, that specialised in combining two investment techniques, short sales (borrowing a security and selling it in the hope of being able to repurchase it more cheaply before repaying the lender) and leverage (buying securities with borrowed money) in a way that reduced risk.

ECONOMIST: The villains of global finance deserve a better reputation

In fact, the lender had the ability to sell off the securities in ways that were unusual for garden-variety loans.

FORBES: A Lannister Always Pays His Debts (Or IRS Would Tax Them)

There may also be little in the way of investment banking expertise that Lloyds can pick up from HBOS, even though the mortgage lender had been very active in trading asset-backed securities before being taken over by Lloyds last year.

FORBES: Banks

Countrywide Financial co-founder Angelo Mozilo, for many months a poster child of what went wrong in the financial crisis, now faces securities fraud and insider trading charges for his role in guiding the largest U.S. mortgage lender to ruin.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Citi also agreed to become Ameriquest's chief "warehouse" lender, providing credit to fund loans and hold them until they are packaged into mortgage-backed securities.

FORBES: Magazine Article