Sen. Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, will hold hearings this week on the causes of the financial crisis.
The first hearing, on Tuesday, will focus on mortgage lending at the failed Washington Mutual. The second hearing, on Friday, will look at the record of bank regulators.
"The recent financial crisis was not a natural disaster; it was a man-made economic assault," Levin said in a press release Friday. "People did it. Extreme greed was the driving force. And it will happen again unless we change the rules."
Before each hearing the committee will release a report on the stages of the crisis. Levin said the purpose of the hearings is to present a record of the causes, inform the regulatory reform legislative debate and provide a foundation for building better defenses.
Several former Wamu employees, including Kerry Killinger, its former chief executive, are scheduled to testify on Tuesday. Witnesses have not been announced for the second hearing.
