Probe the story of the big banks — how they developed, how they crashed and whether they still present dangers.

FRONTLINE producer Martin Smith (“College, Inc.,” “The Madoff Affair”) pivots the investigation to the inner workings of global high finance, which four years after the crisis exploded remains largely shrouded in secrecy and laden with risk. While popular anger at bankers and the effects of reckless lending and borrowing has spread across much of the globe, effective regulatory reform remains elusive. Looking to Europe as well as America, FRONTLINE interviews leading bankers and officials to probe deeply into story of the big banks, how they developed, how they crashed and whether many of the practices that contributed to the crisis remain clear and present dangers. Is the global economy again on the brink?