Washington, D.C.--As the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission launches its investigation into the causes of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) released ten questions the Commission should ask the Wall Street CEOs at today's hearing.

"It's time Americans learned the truth about how Wall Street big shots spent decades rigging a system so that no matter what they do, they will always win at our expense," said SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger who called for an investigation of the banks last year. "Americans are tired of being held hostage by big banks. We need answers today so we can ensure Wall Street can never again drive our economy off a cliff."

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission should ask the top Wall Street CEOs the following ten questions:

1. Which specific regulations did your banks lobby against in the past fifteen years that could have helped prevent the crash and what were your reasons? Would you support those regulations now?

2. Wall Street has long argued that regulation is bad because it stifles financial innovation, which has brought us things like derivatives, collateralized debt obligations, and option-ARM mortgages. In your opinion, what role did financial innovation play in this crisis?

3. In a report about your banks' compensation practices, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wrote last year, "there is no clear rhyme or reason to the way banks compensate and reward their employees," citing "a disconnect between compensation and bank performance that resulted in a 'heads I win, tails you lose' bonus system." What is the rationale behind a compensation system that gives your bankers and traders all of the upside but virtually none of the downside, and how does that contribute to systemic risk?

4. Your four banks alone are on pace to pay out $98 billion in bonuses and compensation. The entire global economy has been devastated because of the actions of your industry. How do you justify taking record pay while the rest of the world pays for your mistakes?

5. Over the last year and a half, several former employees of Bank of America have come forth to say they felt pressured to sell overpriced and risky products to unsuspecting customers in order to boost the bank's bottom line. What kinds of incentives did Bank of America use to pressure workers to sell risky products and how did that contribute to the economic crisis? What are your banks doing now to ensure that workers who blow the whistle on these abusive practices are protected from retaliation? Why is your industry opposed to the establishment of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency that could help curb these abuses?

6. As housing prices across the country plummet, one out of four homeowners with a mortgage is underwater on the loan. Even Morgan Stanley recently decided to stop making mortgage payments on five buildings in San Francisco. If Morgan Stanley can walk away from its mortgages, then why shouldn't homeowners unless the banks agree to write down the principal of their loans?

7. As a result of plummeting property values and soaring unemployment, states across the country are facing severe budget crises and are making drastic cuts to essential services. The $150 billion that the top six banks have set aside for bonuses and compensation would be enough to bridge the budget gap for all fifty states. Will you donate half of your compensation pool to help the taxpayers who bailed you out last year?

8. In the years leading up to the crisis, your four banks marketed increasingly complicated financial products to state and local governments looking to raise money for infrastructure projects and other long-term investments. These products, including derivatives such as interest rate swaps, failed to perform as expected and are now saddling state and local governments with billions of dollars in unanticipated costs. Will you agree to modify or unwind these financial products so that state and local governments do not have to cut services and institute layoffs?

9. Although your banks have paid back TARP, you still continue to borrow money at a steeply discounted rate from the Federal Reserve's special lending facilities. How much money have each of your banks borrowed from the Federal Reserve's special lending facilities, and at what interest rates? Have you passed on these massive discounts to homeowners who need help, to small businesses who need loans, and to consumers who have seen their fees and credit card rates rise?

10. While your banks are receiving discount loans from the Federal Reserve's special lending facilities at near-zero interest rates, you refuse to pass the savings on to cash-strapped state and local governments that are in dire need of affordable financing. Will you commit to passing on the near-zero interest rates you are getting from American taxpayers to state and local governments?"

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