Financial Crisis Commission Chair: Will Leave No Stone Unturned

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Phil Angelides, the chairman of the newly formed Financial Crisis Commission, pledged Wednesday to leave no stone unturned as part of the body's investigation into the events that led to the monumental collapse of the financial markets last year.
He said that he would not let partisan bickering derail the commission's efforts, citing as an example the panel established in the wake of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"Our job here is to do a thorough inquiry to ascertain the facts as to what brought down the nation's financial system," Angelides said, in an interview. "I go into this with the belief that the mission is so important that it can and must transcend" partisanship.
Angelides was named Wednesday along with nine other representatives of the political, regulatory and business communities to conduct a thorough analysis of the greatest collapse in the nation's financial system since the market crash that precipitated the Great Depression.
He said that the panel wouldn't hesitate to issue subpoenas to ensure they received full cooperation from potential witnesses from the private and public sector.
It is too early to predict whether the body would recommend any criminal charges against individuals, he said.
The commission will hold its first meeting within weeks, Angelides said, and commence public hearings shortly thereafter.
Its mandate is to report back to Congress by Dec. 15, 2010, with a full list of conclusions about what occurred and recommendations about what actions should be taken to prevent another collapse from occurring in the future.
Some in Congress have been critical of the commission's creation, suggesting it could be outpaced by efforts by the Obama administration and lawmakers to overhaul the financial regulatory framework. These efforts are already well underway, and most expect them to be implemented before the end of next year.
Angelides said he didn't expect Congress or the administration to pause until the commission completes its work. He said he sees the efforts as "parallel" and said ultimately the goal is to provide a handbook for regulators and market players.
He said the commission's investigation would encompass regulators, lawmakers, the executive branch, as well as the actions of mortgage lenders, banks, ratings agencies, securitization market players and others involved in the market failure.
A key element will be looking at those financial firms that failed such as investment banks Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, and those that didn't because they received substantial taxpayer bailouts including American International Group Inc. (AIG) and Citigroup Inc. (C).
Angelides is a former California state treasurer who ran unsuccessfully against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. Joining him is former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida and the ex-chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brooksley Born.
Representing the business community are Heather Murren, a retired managing director at investment bank Merrill Lynch, and John W. Thompson, chairman of Symantec Corp. (SYMC), a business software provider. The sixth Democratic- appointed member of the panel will be Byron Georgiou, a Las Vegas businessman and attorney.
The Republican appointees to the commission are former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Bill Thomas, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economic adviser to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during last year's presidential campaign, former director of the Bush White House's National Economic Council Keith Hennessey, and Peter Wallison, a director at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
The panel was created by Congress earlier this year. Lawmakers demanded a full investigation into how one of the greatest collapses in the financial markets occurred.
It is modeled on the Pecora Commission, a Senate panel that investigated causes of the Great Depression during the 1930s. The Pecora Commission led to major changes in federal law, including the creation of Securities and Exchange Commission.
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