Former top Citigroup executives apologize for financial crisis

[RamboLiberal]

Source: LA Times

Two former top executives of Citigroup Inc. on Thursday publicly apologized for the financial crisis and the near collapse of the giant firm that required a taxpayer bailout of $45 billion.

"Let me start by saying I'm sorry. I'm sorry the financial crisis has had such a devastating impact on our country," former chief executive Chuck Prince told the federal commission investigating the causes of the financial crisis. "I'm sorry that our management team, starting with me, like so many others, did not see the unprecedented market collapse that lay before us."

Prince's mea culpa 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 Citi board chairman, Robert Rubin, who expressed regret for the failure of the firm and others to see the approaching financial 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."


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-citi-bailout9-2010apr09,0,3260780.story

[WyLoochka]

1. I saw it coming

and I'm an absolute novice about these matters.

I don't believe for one second they didn't see it coming. They did it anyway, knowing we would be forced to bail them out and they'd get away scott free with all of their amassed loot.

That's premeditated crime.

[county worker]

21. The housing bubble was a popular topic on DU way back when.

DUers were saying that the housing bubble will burst and cause a meltdown and that prices were inflated and people were buying McMansions that the couldn't afford on ARM's. That was during Bush's ownership society bull shit.

[happygoluckytoyou]

2. IN A RELATED STORY fox reports tiger woods sorry for not seeing his wife would be upset

but as with these bullshitters.....THEY ARE NOT SORRY FOR ANYTHING THEY DID.... THEY ARE SORRY "WE DIDN'T SEE" AND THEY ARE SORRY "THAT THIS HAPPENED"

I AM SORRY TOO...... I AM SORRY THESE SORRY F'S WON'T SPEND ENOUGH TIME IN PRISON

[PSPS]

3. Yeah, our bad. But, hey! Thanks for the $13 trillion!

[florida08]

4. uh sure

uh huh..I feel better now:eyes:

[Romulox]

5. A Vile Profile of the speaker (from the Vile Plutocrat)

On Sunday, 4 November 2007, Prince resigned from his post as CEO of Citigroup due to unexpectedly poor 3rd quarter performance that amounted to a 57% drop in Ctiti’s quarterly earnings and lost nearly a quarter of its market value.

Two months after Prince walked away from Citigroup, the bank suffered a $10 billion quarterly loss—the largest ever in the company’s history—and announced an $18.1 billion writedown due to mortgage-backed investments.

In 2006, Prince’s total compensation was $24.8 million, including a $13.2 million bonus and $10.4 million in stock awards.

His retired with a $38 million pay package. Prince left the company with vested stock holdings valued at $94 million and the roughly $53.1 million salary he received over the four years in the position. He also received a pension of $1.74 million and another one million stock options. According to a SEC filing, part of his golden parachute with Citigroup entitles Prince to an office, executive assistant, and a car and driver for up to five years.


http://www.thevileplutocrat.com/bile/profile/charles_o._prince_iii/

"He is still a consultant with Citigroup." :wow:

[defendandprotect]

6. Yeah, right -- but let's reregulate capitalism and make sure the corporate funnel into

taxpaper dollars is shut off --

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. Bob Rubin was one of the architects of this crash

Who is he kidding?

[BrklynLiberal]

8. and exactly when will they be donating all the money they made to some charity?????????

[liberal N proud]

9. That does a lot for those who lost everything because they took theirs

[grasswire]

10. they learned this technique from strategists

It's the technique of framing. It's slippery and slimy and bogus.

Shame on them.

[insidejoke]

11. I Don't Believe He's Sorry, But...

...I believe he didn't see the crisis coming, because I believe he didn't WANT to see the crisis coming. I think it's just like Enron. You have guys who are SO naive that they think they can go on hiding debt, and losing money, and making huge bonuses, and doing whatever the fuck they want to do WITHOUT ANY CONSEQUENCES. They're sociopaths. They run sociopathic entities, and they have no sense of perspective that extends beyond their own incompetence, egos, and (avoiding their own) insecurities.

Words are cheap. If he feels so bad he should do something about it...like refinancing debt of families who have been DESTROYED by this collapse, or championing regulations to ensure this never happens again, or foregoing all salary and benefits and instead living out of a '76 Ford Pinto until this crisis is well past abated.

[insidejoke]

20. Oops...I Meant That I DO Believe He's Sorry

Ya know, sorry that he got caught...

[katty]

12. Bob Rubin..."deeply regret.."?! bullshit

[JackRiddler]

13. Unprecedented! No one could have imagined!

Except for the same sort of crash for similar reasons with the same dynamics of asset inflation and speculation driven by greed and the knowledge that there will be winners as well as losers in the shakeout as seen in the 1870s, the 1890s, 1929, the early 1970s, the 1980s, 2000 and now 2008.

59 trillion dollars in derivatives based on real estate, and no one saw it coming!

[BadgerKid]

14. ORLY? I'm switching to credit unions

as we speak because I think the big financial companies are part of the problem.

[change_notfinetuning]

15. I'm sorry, too. Sorry that these clowns made out like the bandits that they are

and that a guy like Rubin could be a top economic advisor to the president, instead of enjoying his undeserved millions in shame and distrust, if not in prison.

[liberation]

16. In other words: the foxes are real "sorry" they ate all the chickens...

... they promise not to eat the rest of us, swear, so we should all get back to the hen house they are guarding.

They are not sorry, they just got hungry again after they got done digesting their last orgy.

[UpInArms]

17. not good enough - don't want their pitiful excuses for their criminal behavior

want them in prison.

I saw this coming. The SMWers saw this coming.

These people are not stupid. They are criminals.

Hey, Prince - give me your $38 million severance package and eat shit and go live on 10-thread count sheets for the rest of your life.

I will make certain that the $38 million goes to paying off the debt to the public.

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. Here's a true story

Happened last week.
One of our new neighbors, quite red neck type, has been letting his pack of big dogs run loose,
then apologizing for it every time Animal Control gets after him.
Last week he did it for the 4th time, dogs terrified the preacher's little kids in the yard.
So the guy gets a heads up that the police have been called, runs down to the preacher's house to make his well known apologies, but in his hurry he did not realize he was wearing a t-shirt that said:

"Don't be fooled.
I only ACT like I am sorry".

I think the banksters should be wearing those shirts.

[aquart]

19. Hara kiri was a perfectly fine way of dealing with this sort of thing.

So was leaving a man alone in his office with a loaded gun.

Romans who had messed up big time had a servant hold a sword while they ran onto it.

Now they don't even take a pay cut.

[hayu_lol]

22. These guys are sorry...well, at least they claim to be...

In his book, MacNamera said that he was sorry for the unnecessary Nam war.

Don't you all have a warm glow inside with all these apologies?

[elleng]

23. Commission members'/chair said 'sorry' just won't do it.

Citi guys (prince and rubin) kept trying to say they didn't control;wasn't part of their job descriptions. Catch it on C-Span (if you've got the stomach for it.)