Why is henry paulson testifying on capital hill?
Former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. is testifying before Congress about his role in persuading Bank of America to complete its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Zachery Kouwe of The New York Times is live-blogging the hearing on DealBook, with the most recent posts at the top. 2:15 p.m. | Goldman and Warren Buffett: In a particularly contentious exchange, Marcy Kaptur, Democrat of Ohio, claims Mr. Paulson knew all along that there were problems in the financial system and orchestrated the TARP to be the biggest public bailout of the private sector in history. “It looks like some very rich people are now profiting,” Ms. Kaptur says, referring to the record-setting quarterly profits at Goldman Sachs. She compares the terms of the government’s TARP investment in Goldman with the terms that Warren Buffett, the famous investor, got on his preferred stock investment in Goldman. Why did Mr. Buffett get a better deal than taxpayers, she asks? Mr. Paulson’s answer: At the time, Mr. Buffe
Former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. is testifying before Congress about his role in persuading Bank of America to complete its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Zachery Kouwe of The New York Times is live-blogging the hearing on DealBook, with the most recent posts at the top. 2:50pm | Unanswered Questions: In his closing statement, Mr. Issa talks about unanswered questions that remain, including whether Merrill would have been successful as a stand-alone company if it hadn’t been acquired by Bank of America. He thanks Mr. Paulson for his services and asked that he continue to be a resource to the committee. 2:46 p.m. | A.I.G. and the TARP: Would the crisis at A.I.G. have been handled differently if the TARP were in place at the time? Mr. Paulson can’t say for sure: He says it was important for A.I.G. to avoid filing for bankruptcy protection, but adds that he doesn’t know the details of what the Fed is doing at A.I.G. now, so he can’t specify what it would have done differently
Former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. is testifying before Congress about his role in persuading Bank of America to complete its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Zachery Kouwe of The New York Times is live-blogging the hearing on DealBook, with the most recent posts at the top. 2:05 p.m. | ‘What a Regulator Should Do’: Aaron Schock, Republican of Illinois, asks whether Mr. Paulson ever used the name of Tim Geithner, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the time, to put additional pressure on Mr. Lewis. Mr. Paulson says he couldn’t recall using Mr. Geithner’s name. Responding to a question about whether a threat would have been improper, Mr. Paulson says: “I take responsibility for what I said” and “I think it was what a regulator should do.” Sources: http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/henry-paulson-heads-to-capitol-hill/?
