Side note: Regardless of the borderline sociopathic ruthlessbes of Jeremy Irons character, I'd propably work for him as well. At least for a while. Heck, he was flown to a crisis meeting, listened to the people on the ground, understood the problem, met a decision and implemented a plan. All that in one night! Most senior managers I know would have needed a month to understand the why the underlying mathematical model had any significance.
Having been CEO through similar crisis situations, I really related to his character and situation in that movie.
People who criticize his actions don't understand that hard decisions are always between two shitty options. There wasn't a warm-n--fuzzy way to get out of there.
You can criticize their risk management strategy, and honestly we should more criticize the USG / SEC for allowing such risk to build up.