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June 9, 2010
Via Email and First Class Mail
John D. Hawke, Jr., Esq.
Arnold & Porter, LLP
555 Twelflh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004-1206
Phll AngeJides
Cfta irma n
Hon. Bill Thomas
Vice Clzairman
Brooksley Born
Commissioner
Byron S. Georgiou
Commissioner
Senator Bob Graham
Re:
Follow-Up to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Hearing
on April 8, 2010
Dear Mr. Hawke:
On April 15, 2010, Chairman Angelides and Vice Chairman Thomas sent you a
letter thanking you for testifying at the April 8, 2010 hearing and informing you
that the staff of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission ("FCIC") would be
contacting you or your office to follow-up on certain areas of your testimony and
to submit written questions and requests for information related to your testimony,
which are listed below. Please provide your answers and any additional
information by June 23, 2010. 1
Commissioner
Keith Hennessey
Commissioner
Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Commissioner
Heather H. Murren, CFA
1. Please provide detailed information (who, when and how) and a timeline
regarding the following:
a) Any and all instances in which the OCC 2 requested from state law
enforcement officials and consumer groups information or referrals
related to incidents of deceptive conduct, unfair lending, predatory
lending, mortgage fraud, boiler room-type conduct, or aggressive
lending on the part of national banks;
Commissioner
John W. Thompson
b) Any related responses received from any such authorities or consumer
groups; and
Commissioner
Peter J. Wallison
Commissioner
I The answers you provide to the questions in this letter are a continuation of your testimony and
under the same oath you took before testifying on April 8, 20 I o. Further, please be advised that
according to section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code, "Whoever, in any matter within
the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States knowingly and willfully falsifies,
conceals or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious
or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any false writing or document
knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
2 "OCC" refers to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and any of its members, divisions,
and offices, including its national, regional or local offices and all other persons acting or
purporting to act on its behalf.
1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 800 • Washington, DC 20006-4614
Wendy Edelberg
ExeclItive Director
202.292.2799 • 202.632.1604 Fax
.~,
*
John D. Hawke, Jr., Esq.
June 9, 2010
Page 2 of2
c) Any further actions taken by the DCC in response to any such related information or
referrals.
The FCIC appreciates your cooperation in providing the information requested. Please do not
hesitate to contact Jeff Smith at (202) 292-1398 or jsmith@fcic.gov if you have any questions or
concerns.
Sincerely,
Wendy Edelberg
Executive Director
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
cc:
Phil Angelides, Chairman, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
Bill Thomas, Vice Chairman, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
Jeff Smith, Investigative Counsel, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
4843-5647-5398. v I
From: Jeff Smith [mailto:jsmith@fcic.gov]
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 9:37 AM
To: Hawke, Jr., John D.
Subject: RE: Follow-Up Request from April 8, 2010 Hearing
Mr. Hawke:
We sincerely appreciate your recount of events, even though our memories do tend to fade with time. I
will place this into the record and if we have any follow‐up questions we will let you know.
Highest regards,
Jeff
From: Hawke, Jr., John D. [mailto:John.Hawke@APORTER.COM]
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 9:22 AM
To: Jeff Smith
Subject: RE: Follow-Up Request from April 8, 2010 Hearing
While my memory tends to fade these days, I clearly recall my first meeting with State AGs. Among
others the AGs from Iowa and North Carolina were there. Eliot Spitzer was supposed to attend, but
instead he held a press conference blasting the OCC. At the meeting it was clear that we had an
irreconcilable difference on preemption, but we had the same objective of protecting consumers. I
proposed that we enter into an information‐sharing agreement under which the states would refer to
the OCC for remedial action any information they had about consumer violations or abuses involving
national banks, while the OCC would make similar referrals to the states involving state banks.
Sometime after the meeting I circulated a draft of such an agreement, but I don’t recall having any
response from the states.
From: Jeff Smith [mailto:jsmith@fcic.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 4:18 PM
To: Hawke, Jr., John D.
Cc: Wendy Edelberg
Subject: RE: Follow-Up Request from April 8, 2010 Hearing
Mr. Hawke:
Thank you for your assistance. Please provide us with any information you may have based upon your
memory from your time while working with the OCC. Although we had anticipated that most
information and documents would be derived from the OCC, we still wanted you to share any personal
knowledge or information that you may have.
Best regards,
Jeff
Jeffrey Smith
Investigative Counsel
Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission
202‐292‐1398
jsmith@fcic.gov
From: Hawke, Jr., John D. [mailto:John.Hawke@APORTER.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 1:52 PM
To: Jeff Smith
Subject: Follow-Up Request from April 8, 2010 Hearing
Dear Mr. Smith,
I am responding to the attached letter to me of June 9, 2010 from the Executive Director of the
Commission, presenting follow‐up questions related to my testimony on April 8. Because I do not have
in my possession records or documents that would enable me to answer these questions I am afraid I
cannot provide a useful response. However, I understand that the Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency, which does have documents and records relating to the subject of these questions, is
gathering the information requested and will provide a response to the Commission.
John D. Hawke, Jr.
@FedFRASER