Michael Lewis: 'The Ray Rice video for the financial sector has arrived'

Claimed she was kicked out for refusing to back down over critical report

Segarra was fired after seven months on the job - and lost lawsuit over it

In another meeting afterwards he congratulates himself and says bank will 'think twice' before trying to do the same thing again

Senior regulator heard gently bringing up a potential lapse in meeting then trailing off - despite previously calling the deal 'shady'

Says her tapes show a culture of 'fear' and 'deference' towards bankers

Secret tapes: Carmen Segarra, a fired NY Fed regulator, recorded meetings which she claims show deferential officials failing to hold banks to account

A fired New York Fed regulator recorded hours of meetings which allegedly show how government supervisors were afraid to ask tough questions of the biggest banks on Wall St.

Carmen Segarra, 41, was brought in by New York's banking watchdog in the wake of the financial crisis to tighten the government's grip on the major banks, and assigned to Goldman Sachs.

And after encountering a culture of 'fear' and 'deference' to the finance giants at Goldman, Segarra explosively started recording meetings in which regulators offer softball questions to bankers, then congratulate themselves for standing up to them.

The Big Short and Liar's Poker author Michael Lewis has dubbed the recordings the 'Ray Rice video of the financial sector.'

Segarra was fired after just seven months working at Goldman for the Fed - which she says was because she refused to back down from a damning report on the bank's policies on conflicts of interest.

The tapes, handed over to an investigation by ProPublica and This American Life, record meetings between where the Fed's live-in regulators do not press Goldman on parts of its dealings which they themselves admit are 'shady'.

Recordings show Michael Silva, the Fed's top man at Goldman, gently raising an issue of potential regulatory lapse in a way that allows Goldman to skirt over it.

A clause in a deal which Silva describes in the tapes before a meeting as 'legal but shady' seemed to require approval from the Fed - which had not been given.

In the private meeting, Silva aims to 'put a big shot across their bow on that'. But in the meeting itself - after more than 45 minutes without mentioning it, he only mentions that it 'sounds like' the clause 'dropped out'.

He is heard saying: 'Just to button up one point. I know the term sheet called for a notice to your regulator. The original term sheet also called for expression of non-objection - sounds like that dropped out at some point, or...?'

Refused to toe the line: Segarra claims she was fired from the Fed because she refused to back down over a report which was critical of Goldman Sachs

Heart of Wall St: Segarra made the recordings during her seven-month tenure at Goldman Sachs before she was fired

Silva is later heard reflecting on the meeting, and says that by asking the question - and even having a meeting in the first place - the Fed has succeeded in making Goldman 'think twice'.

He says: 'At a minimum, we made them, I guarantee they’ll think twice about the next one, because by putting them through their paces and having that large Fed crowd come in. You know we fussed at ‘em pretty good.'

Soft questions: Michael Silva, the Fed's top man at Goldman, is recorded during the tapes

He considers sending a letter - which he acknowledges the bank may ignore - but it is unclear whether it was ever sent.

Segarra's analysis of the situation is that it shows the Fed was in the grip of an irrational 'fear' of Goldman which led to them giving the bank an easy ride.

She told the radio show: 'They were all sort of afraid of Goldman... What I was sort of seeing and experiencing was this level of deference to the banks. This level of fear.'

She is asked whether the attitude amounts to 'regulatory capture' - a form of corruption when officials put the interests of those they are scrutinizing ahead of doing their job.

Her response is: 'You know, if that isn't [it], I don't know what is.'

Segarra also recorded interviews with her own superiors, in which she is told to adopt a less confrontational style in order to get taken seriously.

Segarra filed a lawsuit against the Fed, claiming she was dismissed unfairly and demanded $7million in damages. But her case was struck down by a judge and is now undergoing an appeal.

Goldman Sachs and the New York Federal Reserve declined to comment on the specifics of the deals and exchanges mentioned.

But in a response to This American Life, the Fed said: 'T he New York Fed categorically rejects the allegations being made about the integrity of its supervision of financial institutions.

'Afraid of Goldman': Segarra has now claimed that her recordings show a meek and deferential attitude from government regulators towards the banks they are supposed to be in charge of

On the issue of whether it is difficult for regulators to express concerns, the Fed said: 'Examiners are encouraged to speak up and escalate any concerns they may have regarding the New York Fed or institutions that we supervise.

'The New York Fed provides multiple venues and layers of recourse to help ensure that its employees freely express their views and concerns...'

And on Segarra in particular, it said: 'The decision to terminate Ms Segarra's employment with the New York Fed was based entirely on performance grounds, not because she raised concerns as a member of an examination team about an institution.'