US regulators and lawmakers clash over crisis

By Alan Beattie in Washington

Published: October 23 2008 17:37 Last updated: October 23 2008 17:37

Lawmakers and regulators clashed over blame for the financial crisis on Thursday, with Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that divided responsibility in Congress had contributed to poor regulation.

In the second of two days of packed hearings on Capitol Hill, Henry Waxman, chairman of the House of Representatives oversight committee, lambasted what he called ”the prevailing attitude in Washington...that the market always knows best.”