mr. bowman? >> good afternoon, chairman levin. y name is jo john bowman who was office of the thrift supervision a little over one year ago. during the height of the financial crisis after about five years as the agency's chief counsel. it is not a role that i sought. but i am honored to serve. my written testimony summarizes ots's supervision of washington mutual or wamu and the reasons why wamu failed. it is important to note that this failure came at no cost to the deposit insurance fund and at no cost to the american taxpayer. unlike recent failures of other financial institutions and the near collapse of some of the nation's largest banks, which were deemed too big to fail and, therefore, provided government assistance. the demise of the wamu of 200 banks and thrifts during this crisis. lifelines such as the treasury's t.a.r.p. program and the fdic's increase in the indeposit insurance coverage came too late for wamu. during the real estate boom before the crisis, wamu and other financial firms made a critical error by widely

mr. bowman. >> good afternoon, chairman levin. my name is john bowman, i am a career federal employee. during the height of the financial crisis after about five years as the agency's chief counsel. it is not a role that i sought, but i am honored to serve. my written testimony summarizes ots' supervision of washington mutual or wamu and the reasons why wamu failed. it is important to note that this failure came rat no cost -- came at no cost to the deposit insurance fund and to the taxpayer. unlike the near collapse of some of the nation's largest banks which were deemed too big to fail and, therefore, provided government assistance. the demise of wamu came early in the procession of more than 200 banks and thrifts that have closed during this crisis. lifelines, such as the treasury's t.a.r.p. program and the fdic's increase in deposit insurance coverage, came too late for wamu. during the real estate boom before the crisis, wamu and other financial firms made a critical error by widely underwri

mr. bowman. good afternoon, my name is john bauman, career federal employee a little over one year ago. during the height of the financial crisis after about five years at the agency chief counsel. it's not a role that i sought to but i'm honored to serve. .. >> of the collateral represented by the homes than on the borrowers documented ability to repay. as home prices continue to rise these practices supported a widely praised initiative to increase homeownership in america. yet, as we now know, homeownership reached unsustainable levels and became too much of a good thing. like all of the players and home mortgage market, bank managers at wamu and elsewhere mistakenly believed that they were effectively of earning risks by moving lohse off their books and securitizing them. similarly, homeowners received little risk and adjust will rate mortgages because they thought they could sell their homes at a profit before rate resets kick and. investors believe mortgage-backed securities carried little

mr. bowman. >> good evening. my name is john bowman.me acting director of the thrift supervision a little over one year ago during the height of the financial crisis after about five years as the agency's chief council. is not a role that i thought but i am honored to serve. my quinn testimony summarizes o.t.s.'s supervision of washington mutual or wamu and the reasons why wamu failed. it is important to know that this failure came at no cost to the deposit insurance fund and no cost to the american taxpayer. unlike recent failures of other financial institutions and near collapse of some of the nation's largest banks, which were domed too big to fail and therefore provided government assistance. the demise of wamu came early in the procession of more than 200 banks and thrift that's have closed during this crisis. lifelines such as the treasury's taurp program and the fdic's increase in department insurance coverage, came too late for wamu. during the real estate boom before the crisis, wamu and other financial firms made a critical er