Like Tax Abuse, Securitization Abuse Calls for Tougher Rules

Would you design and sell a car that secretly has no brakes, then buy insurance policies on your customers so you can make money when they crash?

If you’re comfortable with the conflict of interest in that business model, then you could’ve been a superstar in Wall Street’s asset-backed securities market in the mid-2000s. And you could’ve helped precipitate the second-worst financial disaster in US history—the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.

If Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s business model makes you uncomfortable, you could write to the Securities and Exchange Commission now, urging it to adopt the most broadly applicable ...