Wall Street's Collapse to Be Mystery Forever

[IDemo]

By Jonathan Weil - Jan 27, 2011 7:00 PM MT
Bloomberg Opinion

To get to the heart of what went wrong with the report released yesterday by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, check out its account on page 254 of how the largest investor in a cash fund managed by Bank of America suddenly pulled out $20 billion of its money in November 2007.

The withdrawal crippled the fund, which had $40 billion of assets at its peak, forcing Bank of America to step in and prop it up. The commission included a note about the episode in the back of its report.

“The identity of the investor has never been publicly disclosed,” it says. The note then referred readers to the source of the information: A couple of stories published in December 2007 by Bloomberg News and the New York Times.

And here I had thought the purpose of the commission’s inquiry was to uncover new facts that the public didn’t already know. Such as: The identity of the mystery investor that single- handedly kneecapped Bank of America’s Columbia Strategic Cash Portfolio, once the largest cash fund of its kind in the U.S. The commission had subpoena power. It should have been able to get this information. It didn’t, though.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-28/wall-street-s-collapse-to-be-mystery-forever-commentary-by-jonathan-weil.html

[Poll_Blind]

1. I'll bet there are tens of thousands of people who want to know, and do know, who withdrew...

...that money and now I'd like to know too.

Any ideas? Rumors?

PB

[cliffordu]

2. Where the fuck was Gates??

[glinda]

3. Yes. That would be very interesting to know who that was. Check the Swiss Bank?

[snappyturtle]

4. Good ol' BOA...prop it up...this was almost a year before the 'colllapse'!

Do you know who the members are of this Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission?

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Wiki says:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada each made three appointments, while House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky each made two appointments:

* Phil Angelides (chairman) - Pelosi (jointly chosen as chair by Pelosi and Reid)
* Bill Thomas (vice chairman) - Boehner (jointly chosen as vice chair by Boehner and McConnell)
* Brooksley Born (Pelosi)
* Byron Georgiou (Reid)
* Bob Graham (Reid)
* Keith Hennessey (McConnell)
* Douglas Holtz-Eakin (McConnell)
* Heather Murren (Reid)
* John W. Thompson (Pelosi)
* Peter J. Wallison (Boehner)

[snappyturtle]

8. Wow! thank you. I didn't think about going to Wiki...think it's time to put the wine glass down! nt

[applegrove]

6. It was structurally bankrupt. When the price of oil went up the cost of mortgages went up

and all sorts of people then were trying to pull their money out of houses. It wasn't one investor. It was the structure of the derivative market that made it so vulnerable.

[frylock]

7. knr+wtf

[Amonester]

9. So the commission (by the rich for the rich) didn't get this information, uh?

Color me surprised!

NOT!