They knew the entire fucking time they were making those decisions that it was headed in this direction, they knew the risk they took. Who is going to believe for one minute that they didn't know what was happening. Hmmmmm, so that's it, they apologize and everything is all better once again. Anyone who believes their apologies is a fucking idiot. They will do it again and again and again, as long as they can take risk and not have to worry about feeling any guilt after everything falls apart why bother having a care in the world, wait until earnings when they show the billions made from the free handouts they received. Bank CEOs: Sorry for risky behavior, bad decisions Wall Street executives apologize for risky behavior, poor decisions in 2008 financial crisis ap By Daniel Wagner and Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press Writers , On Wednesday January 13, 2010, 2:31 pm WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wall Street executives said Wednesday they underestimated the severity of the 2008 financial crisis and apologized for risky behavior and poor decisions. They also defended their bonus and compensation practices to a skeptical commission investigating what caused the collapse. Americans are furious and "have a right to be" about the hefty bonuses banks paid out after getting billions of dollars in federal help, the commission's chairman told chief executives of four major banks, all survivors of the deepest and longest recession since the Depression. As the hearings opened before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, chairman Phil Angelides pledged "a full and fair inquiry into what brought our financial system to its knees." The panel began its yearlong inquiry amid rising public fury over bailouts and bankers' pay. "We understand the anger felt by many citizens," said Brian Moynihan, chief executive and president of Bank of America. "We are grateful for the taxpayer assistance we have received." "Over the course of the crisis, we as an industry caused a lot of damage," Moynihan said. With Bank of America having repaid its bailout money, he said "the vast majority of our employees played no role in the economic crisis" and do not deserve to be penalized with lower compensation. Moynihan said compensation levels will be higher next year than they were in 2008 -- but not at levels reached before the financial meltdown. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., said most of his employees took "significant cuts in compensation" in 2008. He said his company would continue to pay people in a "responsible and disciplined manner" to attract and retain top talent. Still, Dimon said, "We did make mistakes and there were things we could have done better." John Mack, chairman of Morgan Stanley, said the crisis was "a powerful wake-up call for this firm." He said he didn't take a bonus in 2009 and that his bank has overhauled its compensation practices to discourage "excessive risk-taking." The other executives also said their companies had tightened bonus policies, including provisions to "claw back" some of the money when performance faltered. Angelides, a former Democratic state treasurer of California, questioned Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein about packaging soured assets into bond-like securities and selling them to investors -- even as Goldman Sachs was "shorting" the same securities, or making inside bets they would fail. These included risky mortgages that were extended to borrowers with poor credit records and helped cause the home-loan bust. "It sounds like selling a car with faulty brakes and then buying an insurance policy" on the driver, Angelides said in an animated exchange with the Goldman Sachs executive. Responded Blankfein: "I do think the behavior is improper. We regret the consequence that people have lost money in it." Like the other witnesses, Blankfein acknowledged lapses in judgment in some practices leading up to the crisis. "Whatever we did, it didn't work out well," he said. "We were going to bed every night with more risk than any responsible manager would want to have." The four bankers represent institutions that collectively received more than $90 billion in direct government assistance from the $700 billion federal bank bailout and availed themselves of billions from the Federal Reserve. Goldman Sachs received an additional $12.9 billion in bailout money that had gone to AIG. Angelides suggested that blame for the crisis was widespread among the nation's largest financial institutions. "Maybe this is like `Murder on the Orient Express' -- Everybody did it," he said, referring to the Agatha Christie murder mystery. The four bankers appeared before the panel for just over three hours before it turned to other witnesses. At the White House, presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs said that President Obama on Thursday will outline his plan to make sure taxpayers are able to recoup the money they are owed in the bailouts. The president is expected to announce a new fee on the country's biggest financial firms to recover up to $120 billion. Of the bankers' testimony, Gibbs said, "It would seem to me that apology would be the least of what anybody could expect." He said Wall Street officials need to show common sense. The witnesses said they supported tighter oversight, but warned against going too far. Congress is considering limiting the size of financial companies or breaking up companies whose failure could collapse the whole financial system. "The solution is not to cap the size of financial firms. ... We need a regulatory system that provides for even the biggest banks to be allowed to fail, but in a way that does not put taxpayers or the broader economy at risk," Dimon said. The commission's vice chairman, former Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., said the inquiry would try "to get to the bottom of what happened and explain it in a way that the American people can understand." Thomas, a former chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said one important question is, "If you knew then what you do now, what would you have done differently?" Dimon said a crucial blunder was "how we just missed that housing prices don't go up forever." Added Mack: "We did eat our cooking and we choked on it." The bipartisan, 10-member commission was handed the job of writing the official narrative of what went wrong before the financial system nearly collapsed in the fall of 2008. The commission is modeled on the panel that examined the causes of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But the prototype could be the Pecora Commission, the Senate committee that investigated Wall Street abuses in 1933-34. It was named after Ferdinand Pecora, the committee's chief lawyer. Congress has instructed the current commission to explore 22 issues, from the effect of monetary policy on terms of credit to bank compensation structures.
............ Holy fucking hell If they said that when the recession happened instead of waiting until after taxpayers fucking bailed them out the U.S and UK would be out of this by now like everyone else! Oh we're sorry, but we want a few billion before we go down for our stupid decisions first.
seemed to me blankfein had a very arrogant attitude and at several pt was lecturing congress for daring to make him appear
When the government doled out the TARP money to these bankers, they should have added the clause that upon TAKING the money they must forfeit yearly bonuses. It doesn't matter whether you pay back the money or not, you're bound to the obligation simply by taking the money. If they wish to pay out the bonuses anyway, then they're free not to take the money. When will the government folks get it? You don't need to be a student of Machiavelli to understand this!
Thread carefully. You are talking about the masters of the universe. Heed the warning or you shall suffer their terrible wrath. Pray for forgiveness on your knees, maggots!
of course - they should tell congress to f*** off. bunch of losers that live from taxes and are totally ignorant. on top of that the legislation (and fed) was responsible for the crisis more than any bank could ever be...
Seemed to me too many people on that panel have been reading all the anti-press about Goldman and they just wanted to jump all over Blankfein. Angeleldes was being nothing more than a little scumbag cutting off Blankfein when he was answering questions.
It is always tiresome for the elite to have to answer a lot of impertinent questions from,and on behalf of 'the little people' The mental state of these people is not far removed from that of a psycopath,the massive ego is the same (its not about their victims,its about them) their inability to feel empathy To state 'we are doing gods work' a statement of such towering pomposity,arrogance,evil and self delusion,really who else could say it other than someone who is mentally ill.Even if he meant it as a joke (which he didn't) it amounts to the same conclusion.In a truly civilised society he would live in jail just for saying that because of the danger he represents. Madoff is only in jail because he hasn't got the guts to kill himself- or rather,as a sociopath he thinks he's too important to die.He probably fantasizes about the books/films he imagines everyone is dying to make about him.I doubt he has spent one second worrying about his victims.He probably thinks they deserve it in the same way a rapist thinks his victim deserves it.
Since they must be intelligent enough to 'get it' we can only conclude that this is a worldwide conspiracy to do nothing.If i am wrong about that dont come to me with words, and promises.Dont spend years dissecting in closed doors enquiries and listen to endless handwringing testimonies. Simply meet out justice to the worlds biggest criminals in the same casual way you do to the rest of us. Can you do that obama? NO WE CAN'T