Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will be the star witness at a hearing of the congressional panel looking into causes of the financial crisis, according to people familiar with the situation. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s three-day session in early April gives commission members a rare opportunity to quiz the man who oversaw federal financial regulation throughout the runup to the crisis in 2008. Greenspan’s role as Fed chairman has come in for criticism since then, but he has seldom been called to testify before Congress. Greenspan’s spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment. The hearing will focus on the explosion of subprime mortgages, and the complex securitizations that Wall Street engineered from those loans. And it will examine the role of government-sponsored mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some experts believe Fannie’s and Freddie’s large presence in the mortgage market, and their appetite for highly rated subprime securities, contributed to the rapid growth of the subprime market. Greenspan frequently raised concerns about the companies’ rapid growth, but Congress didn’t pass legislation to rein them in until the mortgage-market meltdown was well under way.
Financial crisis panel to grill Greenspan
Most Popular Articles
Latest Articles
HUD walks back some proposed changes to HECM for Purchase program
Certain changes announced for the H4P program last year will not be implemented after public comments raised concerns, HUD and FHA said.
-
Key housing markets are starting to buck national trends: Redfin
-
Median payment on purchase mortgage applications rises to $2,201: MBA
-
HUD, USDA reach accord on energy-efficiency standard for new construction
-
U.S. mortgage delinquency rates remain near historic lows: CoreLogic
-
HomeServices settles commission lawsuits for $250M