This dissertation examines the relationship between financial liberalization and financial crises and its impact on small open developing countries using Trinidad and Tobago (TT) and the fall of the CL Financial conglomerate as the case study.I engage the institutional and post-Keynesian theories to analyse the circumstances that led to the CL Financial crisis. I argue that financial liberalization leads to financial crisis and I show that the liberalization of TT's financial system allowed CLF to engage in financial practices which were responsible for CLF's difficulties which initiated a financial crisis.