Panel says financial crisis avoidable

 (Reuters) - The financial crisis could have been avoided and was the result of poor decision making both in Washington and at top financial firms that fostered a culture of excessive risk taking, according to a draft report written by Democrats on a panel that investigated the meltdown and obtained by Reuters.

The Democratic majority of the 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission spreads the blame widely to regulators, politicians, financial firms and credit rating agencies.

"We conclude this financial crisis was avoidable," the report said.

It said regulators failed to adequately police financial markets, that financial firms had poor risk management and corporate governance practices, and that government was ill-prepared to handle the fallout from excessive borrowing when loans soured.

"The crisis was the result of human action and inaction, not Mother Nature or computer models gone haywire," the draft report reads. "The captains of finance and the public stewards of our financial system ignored warnings and failed to question, understand, and manage evolving risks within a system essential to the well-being of the American public."

The report will be officially released on Thursday but it has been endorsed only by the congressionally appointed panel's six Democratic commissioners. Three Republican members will release a separate minority report and a fourth Republican plans to unveil a report of his own that will focus on government housing policies.

Reuters obtained a draft of the final report that was circulated in December before it was fully edited and sent to the printer. On Tuesday the New York Times first reported the contents of the majority's report on its website.

Tucker Warren, a spokesman for the panel, did not respond to a phone call or email seeking comment.

Among regulators the report singles out former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his successor Ben Bernanke. The report faults Greenspan and his allies for pushing the idea that financial institutions could "police themselves."

Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were criticized for not seeing the problems in the subprime mortgage markets earlier.

Clinton administration officials were rebuked for pushing to shield over-the-counter derivatives from regulation.

As for the corporate chieftains at the large financial firms that were either toppled or brought to their knees by the crisis, the panel says its examination found "stunning instances of governance breakdowns and irresponsibility."

Among those singled out are American International Group, mortgage giant Fannie Mae and Merrill Lynch.

The report faults investment banks Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley for "operating with extraordinarily thin capital" in 2007.

"Less than a 3 percent drop in asset values could wipe out a firm," according to the report.

    一个金融危机调查机构的民主党人起草的一份报告说,这次金融危机本来可以避免,这是华盛顿和大金融公司决策不当的结果,促成了一种过度冒险的氛围。本社记者获得了这份报告的草稿。

    由10名成员组成的金融危机调查委员会的多数成员是民主党人。他们把金融危机的责任归咎于监管者、政治家、金融公司和信用评级机构。

    报告说:“我们的结论是,这次危机可以避免。”它说,监管者对金融市场的监管不力,金融公司的风险控制和公司管理不当,政府对处理过度借债的影响准备不够。

    报告草案说:“这次危机是人的作为和不作为的结果,不是大自然或电脑模型出了故障。金融巨头和我们金融系统的公共管家都忽视了各种警告,未能对一个系统内逐渐形成的风险提出疑问,不了解这些风险,也没有加以控制,而这个系统对于美国公众的福祉必不可少。”

    这份报告将于星期四正式发表,但是仅得到了国会指定的这个委员会的六名民主党成员的赞同,三名共和党成员将发表一份单独的少数意见报告,第四名共和党成员计划发表自己的报告,重点是政府的住房政策。

    报告提出批评的监管者有前美联储主席格林斯潘及其继任者伯南克。报告指责格林斯潘及其盟友推行关于金融机构可以“自我监督”的思想。

    伯南克和前财政部长亨利·保尔森因没有提前发现次贷市场的问题而受到批评。

    报告指责贝尔斯登公司、高盛公司、雷曼兄弟公司、美林公司和摩根士丹利公司在2007年“以极其微薄的资本运营”。

    这份报告说:“哪怕资产价值下降不到3%,都会让一家公司倒闭。”