With his deep tan, shock of white hair and Bronx accent, it did not take long for Angelo Mozilo to become the public face of the subprime mortgage industry.

And when the real estate bubble burst two years ago, the Countrywide chief executive’s multi-million-dollar compensation package attracted the interest of federal regulators and lawmakers. Now that the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused him of fraud and reaping $140m in profits from insider trading, Mr Mozilo has become the first major figure from the financial services industry to be charged with illegal activity.