Crisis Commission Hears 'Blame Game' in Citi Testimony

Former executives and regulators, testifying Thursday before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, all tried to shift blame for the giant company's problems. Charles Prince, Citigroup's former chief executive, pointed a finger at the credit rating agencies and overly complex products-like collateralized debt obligations-that no one understood. (Mr. Prince was onboard when Citi made several disastrous investments in subprime lenders, including its acquisition of assets from Ameriquest and Argent.) Robert Rubin, a former Treasury secretary and former chairman of Citi's executive committee, laid the blame on a confluence of market events while saying he was out of the loop for most of the company's decisions. The bank's regulators, meanwhile-John Dugan, the comptroller of the currency, and his predecessor, John D. Hawke-criticized the institution, its managers, other regulators and the market in general. If there was an underlying consensus, it was this: the financial crisis was either entirely unforeseeable or should have been spotted first by somebody else.