Pecora Commission
 Pecora Commission  (Congressional hearing)   | |
|---|---|
| Formation | March 4, 1932 |
| Membership | Ferdinand Pecora |
| Senate inquiry to investigate the causes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. | |
The Pecora Investigation was an inquiry begun on March 4, 1932, by the United States Senate Committee on Banking and Currency to investigate the causes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The name refers to the fourth and final chief counsel for the investigation, Ferdinand Pecora. His exposure of abusive practices in the financial industry galvanized broad public support for stricter regulations.
Activities
"In his first two weeks, Pecora made headlines by auditing the books of major Wall Street banks and pulled in pro-fascist National City President Charles Mitchell (then preparing to advise Benito Mussolini) to testify. Within days, Mitchell's team of expensive defense attorneys could do nothing but watch in despair as the powerful financier admitted to short selling his own bank's stocks during the depression, scamming depositors with purchases of Cuban junk debt and avoiding taxes for years. Mitchell was forced to resign in shame followed days later by NY Stock Exchange Chair Dick Whitney - who left the court in handcuffs.[1]
When J.P. Morgan Jr. was called to testify, he was caught off guard by Pecora's proof of Morgan’s secret "preferred clients lists" of politicians whom the banker owned and who received stock offerings at discount rates. Named among the thousands on this list, Pecora revealed former president Calvin Coolidge, Coolidge's Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, financier Bernard Baruch, Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts and Democratic Party controller John Jacob Raskob. "
