Corporate Accountability

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Committee Holds Hearing on Collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The Committee held a hearing titled, “The Role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the Financial Crisis” on Tuesday, December 9, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing examined the extent to which the actions and policies of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have contributed to the ongoing crisis.

Committee Holds Hearing on Hedge Funds and the Financial Market

The Committee held a hearing titled, “Hedge Funds and the Financial Market” on Thursday, November 13, 2008. The hearing examined systemic risks to the financial markets posed by hedge funds and proposals for regulatory and tax reforms.

Chairman Waxman Requests Compensation and Bonus Information for Employees of Major Banks

In letters to nine major banks that will receive $125 billion of taxpayer funds, Chairman Waxman requested information on their compensation and bonus plans in 2008.

Committee Holds Hearing on the Credit Rating Agencies and the Financial Crisis

The Committee held a hearing titled, “Credit Rating Agencies and the Financial Crisis” on Wednesday, October 22, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. The hearing examined the actions of the three largest credit rating agencies, Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Corporation, and Fitch Ratings, leading up to the current financial crisis.

Chairman Waxman Requests Details of AIG Event Spending and Bonuses

In response to reports that AIG spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on extravagant employee events after receiving an $85 billion rescue package, Chairman Waxman requested a detailed listing of all conferences, events, or retreats paid for by AIG this year as well as bonuses paid to AIG executives.

Chairman Waxman Requests Information on Health Insurance Recissions

As part of the Committee’s ongoing investigation, Chairman Waxman wrote to several insurance companies and each of the state insurance commissioners seeking information about the practice of companies retroactively cancelling individual health insurance policies after policyholders submit expensive claims.

Oversight Committee Hearing Rescheduled

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee today announced that the hearing on hedge funds previously scheduled for Thursday, October 16, 2008, has been rescheduled for Thursday, November 13, 2008. The Committee has postponed the hearing in order to accommodate the schedules of witnesses.

Committee Holds Hearing on the Causes and Effects of the AIG Bailout

The Committee held a hearing to examine the regulatory mistakes and financial excesses that led to government bailout of AIG. The hearing was held at 10:00 a.m. on October 7, 2008, in Rayburn House Office Building room 2154.

Committee Holds Hearing on Causes and Effects of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy

The Committee held a hearing to examine the regulatory mistakes and financial excesses that led to the bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers. The hearing was held at 10:00 a.m. on October 6, 2008, in Rayburn House Office Building room 2154.

Committee to Hold Hearings on Collapse of Lehman Brothers and AIG

Chairman Henry A. Waxman announced that the Oversight Committee will hold two days of hearings to examine the regulatory mistakes and financial excesses that led to the bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers and the government bailout of AIG.

Chairman Waxman Announces Hearings on Financial Meltdown

The Oversight Committee will hold five hearings in October on the causes and impacts of the financial crisis on Wall Street. In addition to two hearings next week on the collapse of Lehman Brothers and AIG, the Committee will hold hearings on the regulation of hedge funds with fund managers who earned over $1 billion (October 16 November 13); on the breakdown in credit ratings with the CEOs of the major rating agencies (October 22); and on the role of federal regulators with former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, former Treasury Secretary John Snow, and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox (October 23).

Chairman Waxman Presses for Lehman Documents

In a letter to Lehman CEO Richard Fuld, Chairman Waxman asks why CEO documents for the past six months have been “discarded” and asks the company to voluntarily expand its search.

Chairman Waxman Expresses Serious Reservations About Bailout Plan

Chairman Waxman released a statement about the Administration’s $700 billion proposal to rescue financial institutions.

Survey of State Hospital Associations: Practices to Prevent Hospital-Associated Bloodstream Infections

Chairman Waxman and Ranking Member Davis issued a report on hospital-associated infections. This report summarizes the results of a staff survey of state hospital associations which shows that the majority of state hospital associations have not adopted a program which could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars.

Committee Seeks Lehman and AIG Records

Chairman Waxman wrote to Lehman Brothers and AIG to seek the communications of the CEOs and board members of the two companies over the last 180 days, as well as information about the compensation of the CEOs and board members.

Chairman Waxman Requests Documents on Fannie and Freddie CEO Compensation

As part of its ongoing investigation into executive pay, the Oversight Committee asked Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart to provide documents related to severance compensation and other exit pay for Richard F. Syron and Daniel H. Mudd, the former CEOs of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Committee Holds Hearing on Terminations of Individual Health Insurance Policies

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding a hearing titled, “Business Practices in the Individual Health Insurance Market: Terminations of Coverage” on Thursday, July 17, 2008, in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building.

Chairman Waxman Requests Additional Information on Questionable Electric Co-op Spending

In a letter to Glenn English, the CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Chairman Waxman requested information on the trade association’s apparent involvement in at least one instance of questionable spending by the Pedernales Electric Cooperative.

New Information about Administration Knowledge of Hunt Oil’s Kurdish Contract

Documents provided to the Oversight Committee show that Administration officials knew about Hunt Oil’s interest in the Kurdish region months in advance, contradicting claims that Administration officials were caught off-guard and opposed Hunt Oil’s actions.

House Passes Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2007

On April 14, 2008, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4881, the Contracting and Tax Accountability Act of 2007, which prohibits companies with seriously delinquent federal tax debts from receiving new contracts.

Chairman Waxman Calls for Blackwater Investigations

Chairman Waxman sent letters to the Internal Revenue Service, the Small Business Administration, and the Department of Labor to request investigations into whether Blackwater has violated federal tax, small business, and labor laws.

Committee Holds Hearing on CEO Pay and the Mortgage Crisis

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled, “Executive Compensation II: CEO Pay and the Mortgage Crisis” on Friday, March 7, at 10:00 a.m., in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building.

Committee Releases Memorandum on CEO Pay and the Mortgage Crisis

In advance of the Committee’s March 7 hearing, Chairman Waxman releases a staff memorandum examining the apparent breakdown between shareholder interests and the compensation and retirement benefits awarded to Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, former Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O’Neal, and former Citigroup CEO Charles Prince.

Oversight Committee Requests Executive Compensation Information from Fortune 250 Companies

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee is asking the compensation committee chairs of each of the Fortune 250 companies to provide information about how executive compensation consultants are utilized by these corporations in setting executive pay. This inquiry is part of an ongoing investigation into the role played by compensation consultants at large publicly traded corporations. In December 2007, the Committee held a hearing and released a report on this subject.

Investigation into Mortgage CEO Compensation Expands

As part of its ongoing investigation into executive pay, the Oversight Committee asked Countrywide Financial, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch to provide documents relevant to the compensation of Angelo R. Mozilo, Charles Prince and E. Stanley O’Neal.

In addition, the Committee invited the chairs of the compensation committees at these companies to testify on March 7 about how the compensation and severance packages for these executives were determined and on what basis they were approved.

Update: The hearing previously scheduled for February 7 has been rescheduled to March 7.

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