By Francesco Guerrera in Washington
And to think that Lloyd Blankfein could have been saved by the bell.
Just as Phil Angelides, the tall, wiry chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, began firing off questions to Lloyd Blankfein, the not-so-tall, not-so-wiry, head of Goldman Sachs, a surprise ringing noise pierced the air of the hearing room.
The buzz drowned out the last few words of Mr Angelides’ aggressive opening gambit (a leading question about the most egregious examples of “negligence” committed by Goldman during the crisis) but did not spare Mr Blankfein from a 45-minute mano-a-mano with the former California state treasurer. Read more
By Alan Rappeport
Tune back in on Thursday morning at 9am ET when Sheila Bair, Mary Schapiro, Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer face the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.
12:25pm
First panel is now concluded and breaking for lunch. In the afternoon, Michael Mayo, J. Kyle Bass and Peter Solomon will face questions. Streaming video can be found here. Read more
Tune in later for live interrogation of bankers
Wall Street chief executives are travelling to Washington today to give evidence to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission – the latter-day Pecora Hearings – and my colleague Alan Rappeport will be live-blogging the events here later. Do tune in. Read more
Alan Mulally is the Bill Clinton of business
Watching Alan Mulally, chief executive of Ford, talking to Wall Street analysts at the Detroit auto show, I was trying to figure out who he reminded me of.
That folksy manner, the shining face, the gosh-darn-it all-American manner, the intelligence, the ready grasp of facts and figures combined with a sweet anecdote for every occasion.
Yes, that was it: Bill Clinton.
Mr Mulally is looking cheerful at the moment and he has good reason to. His decision to mortgage Ford’s assets three years ago to push the company through a huge restructuring before the credit crisis struck, giving it the capacity to avoid bankruptcy, has paid off. Read more
| About this blog | Blog guide |
John Gapper is an associate editor and the chief business commentator of the FT.
He has worked for the FT since 1987, covering labour relations, banking and the media. He is co-author, with Nicholas Denton, of 'All That Glitters', an account of the collapse of Barings in 1995.
Andrew Hill is an associate editor and the management editor of the FT. He is a former City editor, financial editor, comment and analysis editor, New York bureau chief, foreign news editor and correspondent in Brussels and Milan.
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