WSJ: “The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission will require top bankers and regulators to testify under oath in the coming week when its first public hearings get under way, the panel’s chairman and vice chairman said Friday. Chairman Phil Angelides, a Democrat, and Vice Chairman Bill Thomas, a Republican, said in an interview that the commission also plans to call Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to testify under oath in the months ahead…The panel, established by Congress last year, got off to a slow start due to the complications of hiring staff and opening an office. But looming hearings show the panel is shifting into action and beginning to make its weight felt among banks and regulators. But its focus isn’t going to be on influencing legislation to overhaul financial-sector regulations, which has been moving through Congress as some lawmakers had envisioned. Instead, the committee is settling into the task of developing a detailed investigative report — due in December — on the causes of the financial crisis.”

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