Senator Chuck Grassley has launched a review of the Federal Reserve’s bailout of a major player in the financial markets.
Grassley is the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. He’s demanding more details of the Federal Reserve’s agreement to lend $30 billion to help bailout Bear Stearns, an investment bank. Grassley wants to know whether "insiders" at Bear Stearns profit from the deal.
Grassley says "corporate bigwigs" shouldn’t be treated any differently than other employees, shareholders, and creditors. Bear Stearns has about 14,000 employees.
JP Morgan Chase intends to buy the troubled company in a deal struck at the urging of both the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department.