House Panel Asks CEOs Of Top TARP Recipients To Testify Feb 11
February 04 2009 - 1:50PM
Dow Jones News
Eight of Wall Street's top bank executives have been invited to
appear before a U.S. House committee next week to field questions
from lawmakers on how they've used hundreds of billions of dollars
of government funds.
The House Financial Services Committee said Wednesday that
executives from Bank of America Corp. (BAC), JPMorgan Chase &
Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C) are among those asked to testify
on Feb. 11 about the money they have received from the $700 billion
Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The announcement came the same day the Obama administration
unveiled new compensation rules for financial institutions that
accept government assistance. The new rules put a cap on salaries
for executives at companies that have individually negotiated
agreements with the Treasury Department, including Bank of America
and Citigroup.
Public opinion about the financial rescue plan has quickly
soured following numerous reports that banks were not using the
money to lend, and were instead providing lavish bonuses, and
funding junkets and other superfluous purchases.
The other executives asked to testify hail from Goldman Sachs
(GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wells Fargo Inc. (WFC), Bank of New York
(BK), and State Street Corp. (STT).
-By Michael R. Crittenden, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9273;
michael.crittenden@dowjones.com