Latest Banker Apologies From Ex-Citigroup Execs Prince, Rubin

April 8, 2010 — -- The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a bipartisan panel appointed by Congress to examine the causes of the recent Wall Street meltdown, has been denounced by some critics as just another panel trotted out by Washington in the wake of a major upset.

"A dog and pony show," one financial industry source called the commission this week. But if nothing else at least the panel gives some of the key players in the meltdown a chance to apologize to the American people.

In January, Wall Street executives such as Morgan Stanley's John Mack apologized for their role in the meltdown. "There is no doubt that we as an industry made mistakes," Mack told the panel.

Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan acknowledged errors, too. "Did we make mistakes? Of course we made mistakes," Greenspan said yesterday.

Today it was the turn of some of the former bosses at Citigroup, the massive bank that needed $45 billion of taxpayer help to stay afloat after suffering widespread losses on investments in subprime mortgages.

"I can only say I am deeply sorry that our management -- starting with me -- was not more prescient and that we did not foresee what lay before us," said former Citigroup CEO Charles Prince at the commission's hearing this morning on Capitol Hill.

Robert Rubin, who served as Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration and later as a senior adviser to Citigroup just before the crisis, echoed Prince's mea culpa.

Referring to his time as a federal regulator, Rubin said, "We all bear responsibility for not recognizing this and I deeply regret that."