True: Cemex got greedy and looked the refinancing gift horse in the mouth. And the Mexican government response has appeared confused at best, despite looming systemic risk. But financial institutions riding the Cemex fee train for so long did not lend, advise or sell exotic derivatives to the cash cow blindly. They must share the pain.

When Cemex succeeded in a hostile $15.3 billion bid for Australian building materials firm Rinker in 2007, the LatAm market cheered, just as it had applauded Vale’s $18 billion purchase of Canada’s Inco a year earlier. ...