Financial Crisis Panel Suggests Prosecutions

Could this interfere with the administration’s plans to make nice with big business? President Obama’s bipartisan Financial Crisis Commission has concluded that several industry figures have broken the law, and it has referred these cases to federal and state authorities for possible prosecution. The panel has been investigating the causes of the financial crisis for 20 months and will reveal its findings on Thursday; it appears though that there will be no consensus, as the panel is actually prepared to issue three reports along partisan lines. The report from six Democrats, including chairman Phil Angelides, will focus on Wall Street greed, regulation failures, and “shadow banking.” Republican Pete Wallison will issue his own report focusing on “big government” housing policies, while the three other Republicans will issue a report downplaying the big banks’ responsibility and instead blaming the crisis on global trends.