Publisher's Synopsis
From 1932 to 1934, in the depths of the Great Depression, the US Senate Committee on Banking and Currency investigated the causes of the 1929 Stock Market Crash. This effort become popularly known as the Pecora Commission, after the committee's final chief counsel and lead investigator, Ferdinand Pecora. The commission was covered extensively in the media of the day, and examined many prominent bankers and stockbrokers, including the head of the New York Stock Exchange, noted investment bankers, and high-profile commodities speculators, most famously J.P. Morgan, whose admission that he and his partners had not paid any income taxes in 1931 and 1932 led to massive public outcry.The Pecora Commission report describes widespread abusive and manipulative practices by banks, brokers, and financiers; it led to public support of new securities regulations proposed by the Roosevelt administration, such as the Glass-Steagall Banking Act and the establishment of the SEC in 1934.
