american orient express

Goldman boss Lloyd Blankfein, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack and Brian Moynihan, the new man at the helm over at Bank of America, were in Washington Wednesday, called to testify before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.

Here are some of the more interesting quotes:

'I do think the behaviour is improper. We regret the consequence that people have lost money'.

'Knowing now what happened, whatever the standards were, it didn't work out well. Of course I would do something different'.

'If we abandon, as opposed to regulate, market mechanisms created decades ago, such as derivatives, we may end up constraining access to capital and the efficient hedging and distribution of risk, when we do come through this crisis'.

'There is enough blame to go around'.

Lloyd Blankfein

'We did make mistakes, and there were things we could have done better'.

'We need a regulatory system that provides for even the biggest banks to be allowed to fail, but in a way that does not put taxpayers or the broader economy at risk'.

'No institution, including our own, should be too big too fail'.

'A regulator should be able to terminate management and boards, and liquidate assets'.

'In many instances, stronger regulation may have been able to prevent some of the problems'.

'Those arguing for a return of Glass-Steagall are effectively arguing that Bear Stearns was a more stable entity than JPMorgan Chase. I don't see how that is tenable'.

Jamie Dimon

'We did eat our own cooking - and we choked on it'.

'Regulators simply didn't have the visibility, tools or authority to protect the stability of the financial system as a whole'.

'Many firms were too highly leveraged, took on too much risk and did not have sufficient resources to manage those risks in a rapidly changing environment'.

John Mack

'We are grateful for the taxpayer assistance we have received. Over the course of the crisis, we as an industry caused a lot of damage'.

Brian Moynihan

'People are angry. They have a right to be'.

'Maybe this is like Murder On The Orient Express - everyone did it!'.

Phil Angelides, Chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

And Bloomberg reports a couple of other interesting comments made after the hearings concluded Wednesday:

'Using tax policy to punish people is a bad idea. All businesses tend to pass their costs onto customers'.

Jamie Dimon

'I'm against increased taxes, but I'm not against a way for all of our friends who were helped out by the government to pay for the enhanced regulatory regime going forward'.

John Mack

'Mr Blankfein himself never admitted that there was any responsibility of Goldman Sachs to make sure the products themselves were good products. That's very troubling'.

Phil Angelides

Finally, The Wall Street Journal's Heard On The Street column reports that while Dimon and Mack 'hung around' after the testimony to talk to reporters, Blankfein was seen 'surrounded by aides...scooting out a back door'.