Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

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The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission was created by Congress to look into the causes of the 2008 financial crisis.

The commission has authority to hold hearings, and subpoena witness testimony and documents. In the end the panel held 19 hearings and interviewed 700 witnesses. The panel is required to issue a report on its findings by Dec. 15, 2010, but delayed the final release until January 27, 2011. For a short period of time, the report can be ordered from the Commission's website http://www.fcic.gov/.

All the report testimonies, footnotes, interviews will be posted on-line including emails and other documents obtained from financial institutions as part of the investigation. A summary of conclusions and dissents can be accessed at: http://www.fcic.gov/report/conclusions.

Members

Six members of the panel are appointed by Democrats and four by Republicans.

• Phil Angelides, previously Treasurer of Califonria, is chairman of the commission.

• Bill Thomas, former U.S. Representative is vice chairman.

Democratic appointees:

• Brooksley Born, former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
• Bob Graham, former U.S. Senator from Florida.
• John Thompson, chairman of Cupertino, California-based Symantec Corp.
• Heather Murren, retired managing director at Merrill Lynch & Co.
• Byron Georgiou, Las Vegas lawyer and member of the advisory board of Harvard Law School’s corporate governance program.

Republican appointees:

• Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office.
• Peter Wallison, a former Treasury Department general counsel.
• Keith Hennessey, former director of the National Economic Council.

Pecora Commission

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is occasionally referred to as a "New Pecora Commission". The original Pecora Commission, launched in 1932, investigated the causes of the 1929 Wall Street crash. It was named after its chief counsel Ferdinand Pecora. The Pecora commission reported on the causes of the financial crisis that caused the Great Depression, and led to the passage of several banking reforms, including the Glass-Steagall Act.

Financial Institution Representatives Written Testimony

• Testimony by Lloyd C. Blankfein Chairman and CEO, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
• Testimony of Jamie Dimon Chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
• Testimony of John J. Mack Chairman, Morgan Stanley
• Brian T. Moynihan Chief Executive Officer and President, Bank of America

Key findings and reports

Reports

The Commission issues numerous reports and researchers are encouraged to visit the site to delve into the material.

• Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Reports

Hearings and testimony

• Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Hearings and Testimony

Articles and resources

References

All written testimonies can be found here.

External resources

A new great resource to use is the new [www.fcic.gov FCIC] website.

External articles

• Jesse Westbrook and James Rowley, California’s Angelides to Lead Financial Crisis Probe, Bloomberg News, July 15, 2009.

• John D. McKinnon, Panel Probing Financial Crisis Has Wall Street Ties , Wall Street Journal, July 18, 2009

• Editorial, Facts and the Financial Crisis, New York Times, September 19, 2009

• Katrina Vanden Heuvel, The Fight for Financial Reform, The Nation, October 3, 2009

• Financial-meltdown commission sets first hearings, Los Angeles Times, December 22, 2009.