Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse

Publication

Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
;
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

Abstract

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs investigated the origins of the 2008 financial crisis. The purpose was to construct a record of the facts of the crisis, identify the causes of the crisis, and provide recommendations for preventing such a crisis in the future. The Subcommittee found that the crisis was a result of many factors, primarily high risk lending, regulatory failure, inflated credit ratings, and investment bank abuses. These findings were supported by case studies of Washing Mutual Bank, the Office of Thrift Supervision, Moody's and Standard & Poor's Credit Rating Systems, and Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.