The Senate Banking Committee plans to hold a hearing next Tuesday to examine underwriting practices at some of the top investment banks, according to Reuters.
The wire service reported that representatives from several firms, including Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, UBS and Lehman Brothers have been invited to testify. Participation by the Wall Street firms has not yet been confirmed.
The committee, chaired by Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd, plans to explore how the underwriting process contributed to the credit crisis. A subcommittee on securities, insurance and investment, chaired by Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed, plans to hold a hearing two days later, on June 12, to examine investment banks and structured finance, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies might testify at the subcommittee hearing, the sources said. The SEC is looking at the liquidity of the investment banks it supervises and has pushed them to increase their capital and liquidity levels after Bear Stearns nearly collapsed.
