April 09, 2010|By Jim Puzzanghera Reporting from Washington — Two former top Citigroup Inc. executives apologized Thursday for the financial crisis and the $45-billion public bailout needed to save the banking giant from collapse. But Democrats and Republicans ripped the executives for not taking any responsibility for the company's dramatic fall and the nation's fiscal morass.
"I'm sorry that the financial crisis has had such a devastating impact on our country. I'm sorry for the millions of people, average Americans who have lost their homes," Charles "Chuck" Prince, Citigroup's chief executive from 2003 to 2007, told the commission investigating the crisis.
"And I'm sorry that our management team, starting with me, like so many others, could not see the unprecedented market collapse that lay before us," he said.
Prince's apology came on the second of three days of hearings by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission into the subprime mortgage meltdown. He was followed by former Citigroup Chairman Robert Rubin, who expressed regret for the failure of himself and others to see the approaching turmoil.
"Almost all of us in the financial system -- including financial firms, regulators, rating agencies, analysts and commentators -- missed the powerful combination of forces at work and the serious possibility of a massive crisis," said Rubin, who served as Treasury secretary under President Clinton.
"We all bear responsibility for not recognizing this, and I deeply regret that," he said.
But neither Prince nor Rubin would take responsibility for the huge losses that nearly drove Citigroup into bankruptcy. They said they weren't aware until fall 2007 of the high risks of the mortgage-backed assets the company was holding, and they largely blamed Citi's problems on a confluence of outside market forces.
Democrats and Republicans on the panel ripped the two executives for diverting blame.
"At the end of the day, the two of you in charge of the organization did not seem to have a grip on what was happening," said commission Chairman Phil Angelides, a Democratic appointee.
"I'm not so sure apologies are as important as assessment of responsibility. . . . Instead of asking, 'What did you know and when did you know it?' I should be asking, 'What didn't you know and why didn't you know it?' " he said.
