Sopranos meets The Wire and Gordon Gekko?

Now that some of the most respected institutions in corporate banking have been implicated in - and some destroyed by - dubious ethical and financial practices, it should come as no surprise that the same foul odour of corruption is now being detected lingering in the corridors of smaller companies on Wall Street.

Thus, the emergence of the biggest case of insider dealing ever uncovered, now spreading to implicate more and more people.

The Guardian's Will Hutton likens it to a poisonous melange of the worst characters in popular fiction, engaged in

a seedy world of secret tips, kickbacks and disposable, pre-paid mobile phones.

The Los Angeles Times writes of