Van Camp recounts the economic conditions from the 1960s that led to the market decline in the early 1970s. He considers securities fraud, due in part to the influence of syndicated crime, as a major contributor to the significant number of California‘s brokerage houses going out of business in 1969 and 1970. The industry and California‘s commissioner‘s office have responded to these issues by increasing regulatory oversight. To respond to the public confidence crisis in the equities market, Van Camp believes that there must also be higher levels of accountability among broker-dealers.