Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

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The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) is a commission established by law in 2009 that was appointed by the US government to determine the causes of the financial crisis from 2007 to 2010. The commission, which dissolved in February 2011, consisted of 10 members, its chairman was Phil Angelides (hence the Angelides Commission ). A similar institution there were even after the world economic crisis with the Pecora Commission . In contrast to this, the FCIC had the opportunity to summon witnesses and obtain evidence.

composition

The Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada (both Democrats ) nominated on the legal basis of Section 5 of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 three members, the minority leader in the House of Representatives John Boehner of Ohio and the Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (both Republicans ) two members:

Hearings

The first public hearing took place on January 13, 2010. During 2010, more than 19 public hearings and 700 interviews interrogated numerous economists, bank managers, regulators and other banking officials. Interviewees included Alan Greenspan , Robert Rubin, and several CEOs of bankrupt Wall Street companies.

Results report

In January 2011 the commission published its results. In a "simple summary" she differentiates between the damage potential that has been created over the years and the bursting of the real estate bubble:

"While the vulnerabilities that created the potential for crisis were years in the making, it was the collapse of the housing bubble — fueled by low interest rates, easy and available credit, scant regulation, and toxic mortgages — that was the spark that ignited a string of events, which led to a full-blown crisis in the fall of 2008. Trillions of dollars in risky mortgages had become embedded throughout the financial system, as mortgage-related securities were packaged, repackaged, and sold to investors around the world. When the bubble burst, hundreds of billions of dollars in losses in mortgages and mortgage-related securities shook markets as well as financial institutions that had significant exposures to those mortgages and had borrowed heavily against them. This happened not just in the United States but around the world. The losses were magnified by derivatives such as synthetic securities. "

- FCIC : The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report , January 2011, p. XVI

While the majority of the commissioners blame the lax regulation and lack of oversight of the banking system, the four Republican-appointed members come to minority votes. After the minority vote of 3 members, the global imbalances were the main reason. According to the minority vote of one member, the government's bad housing policy was responsible.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ section 5 of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-21), signed into law by President Barack Obama on May 20, 2009
  2. ↑ FCIC Final Report (PDF; 5.1 MB)
  3. ^ FAZ of May 2, 2011, Wahnsinn am Abgrund .