Phil Angelides - Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Chair

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Chair

On July 15, 2009, Angelides was named Chairman of the bi-partisan 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The Commission was created by a law passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in May 2009 and was charged with investigating the events that led to the monumental 2008 collapse of the financial markets. The Commission was mandated with reporting back to Congress by the end of 2010, "with a series of conclusions about what occurred, and recommendations as to how to avoid future market breakdowns."

The Commission presented its report to the President and Congress in January 2011, concluding that the crisis was avoidable and was caused by widespread failures of regulation, excessive risk taking by Wall Street, government leaders ill-prepared for crisis, and systemic breaches in accountability and ethics. The report made the New York Times and Washington Post best sellers lists and The New York Review of Books hailed it as “the most comprehensive indictment of the American financial failure that has yet been made” and “the definitive history of this period.”