Word: fcic
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...Nonetheless, on Wednesday, in front of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), the bank executives tried to paint a picture that the failures that caused the crisis were missteps by management, sometimes even themselves, but not the result of faulty regulation. Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, told the panel, "After the shocks of recent months and the associated economic pain, there is a natural and appropriate desire for wholesale reform. We should resist a response, however, that is solely designed around protecting us from the 100-year storm." (See the top 10 crooked CEOs...
...Some of the members of the FCIC seemed to agree that more regulation was not the answer to avoiding another financial crisis. John Thompson, chairman of security company Symantec and a former adviser to President George W. Bush, said to the executives, "Some of this oversight is management's responsibility, and not regulation." (See pictures of the global financial crisis...
...more interesting exchanges came when FCIC members asked the CEOs if they thought that Wall Streeters should get a portion of their compensation in the products they were selling to customers, like mortgage bonds or stocks. In late 2008, investment bank UBS instituted such a plan. The executives, however, said forcing banks and other employees to hold on to products they were selling would cause conflicts of interest and limit their ability to do business. Instead, the executives said they instituted so-called clawback provisions, which allow banks to reclaim compensation from bankers who sell products that cause the firm...
Still, there are some major differences between the FCIC and the 9/11 commission. The FCIC does not have to deal with a President and an Administration that was in power when the event happened, though the Obama team will probably try to deter any criticism of how the current President responded to the crisis. Another major difference is that most of the major actors in the financial crisis are U.S. citizens, making it easier for the FCIC to subpoena, which Angelides has said he will do, to question the people at the heart of the crisis...
Another big difference between the 9/11 commission and the FCIC is the transparency of the process. The 9/11 commission, because it involved national security, held many of its hearings in private and then at the end produced a massive report. The FCIC says it will hold most of its hearings in public, and will quickly release any information it uncovers. Two members of the panel, Keith Hennessey and Byron Georgiou, have their own blogs. Last week, Hennessey, who was a White House economics adviser to President George W. Bush, asked readers what he should be asking bank CEOs...