TPMMuckraker
Financial Crisis: July 2009

Financial Crisis: August 2009 »

Report: Senate Subpoenas Goldman, Deutsche Bank, On Subprime Statements

Zachary Roth | July 30, 2009, 4:42PM

Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank have received subpoenas from a Senate committee that's probing whether they committed fraud in connection to last year's financial collapse, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.).

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Carl Levin, is said to be looking into whether those firms, and perhaps others, had private doubts about the mortgage-backed securities they were putting together, despite their rosy public pronouncements about the complex products.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (8) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)
AIG, Bailout, Financial Crisis, Goldman Sachs, Wall Street

Goldman Sachs

Emails Show Cozy Ties Between Federal Pension Guarantor And Wall Street Firms He Hired

Zachary Roth | July 29, 2009, 1:57PM

Remember our old friend Charles Millard? He's the former Lehman investment banker who, after taking over the federal agency that guarantees our pension systems, had the genius idea to ignore a host of warnings and switch the agency's investment portfolio from conservative bonds to risky stocks -- just as last year's financial storm was gathering.

We also learned -- thanks to an inquiry by the inspector general for the agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation -- that Millard had had extensive contacts with staff at Goldman Sachs, BlackRock Capital, and JP Morgan, during the period that the P.B.G.C. was choosing firms to hire as managers for its fund. And that Millard also raised the issue of getting a job with these firms once he left government. All three firms ended up winning contracts -- which were recently revoked, thanks to concern about those contacts.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (10) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (17)
Charles Millard, Financial Crisis, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Wall Street

Financial Crisis

Stiglitz, Galbraith, Reich To Financial Crisis Panel: Get To The Truth!

Zachary Roth | July 22, 2009, 5:28PM

Looks like were not the only ones who are concerned that the Congressional commission to look into the causes of the financial crisis may struggle to get to the truth.

A group of distinguished economists, academics, and thinkers -- including Joseph Stiglitz, Jamie Galbraith, and Robert Reich -- has written an open letter to the newly-named commissioners, urging them to come together "in non-partisan cooperation to investigate the origins of the financial crisis in ways that lead to a full understanding of the institutions, people and practices that are responsible for our economic collapse."

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (5) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)
Financial Crisis, Phil Angelides, Wall Street

AIG

Financial Crisis Panel Will Probe AIG Bailouts, Says Chair

Zachary Roth | July 22, 2009, 12:26PM

The man who will lead the special congressional effort to probe the causes of the financial crisis says his panel will also consider the government's response to the events of last fall -- including the controversial serial bailouts of AIG.

In an interview with TPMmuckraker, Phil Angelides, the former California treasurer who was recently named by Congress to chair the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, noted that the statute that created his panel required it to look not just at the financial institutions that failed, but also at those that would have failed but for massive government intervention. That means that "it's going to be hard not to touch on those issues," said Angelides, referring to the various AIG bailouts -- which some have portrayed as disingenuous backdoor efforts to save AIG counterparties like Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch from the consequences of their bad bets -- as well as other moves by the government to prevent a wider collapse of the financial sector.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (12) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)
AIG, Bailout, Financial Crisis, Nancy Pelosi, Phil Angelides, Wall Street

Financial Crisis

New Pecora Commission Looks Unlikely To Aggressively Probe Financial Mess

Zachary Roth | July 17, 2009, 9:12AM

Earlier this week, we told you over at TPMDC about the newly named members of what's being called the Pecora II commission, which has been given the crucial task of getting to the bottom of the financial crisis.

The stakes are high here. If we're ever to come to a full understanding of the causes of an episode that has created enormous pain, dislocation, and anxiety for a large number of Americans -- allowing us to craft policies to ensure it doesn't recur -- we need an effective commission. In other words, one that's capable of conducting an aggressive investigation that goes after the truth and lets the chips fall where they may, even if that means publicly calling out powerful Wall Street interests and lax Washington regulators. And not one that settles for making a few polite recommendations while protecting its political overseers -- as too many Washington commissions have done in the past.