Pecora Commission Issues Final Report on Wall Street Corruption

The Senate Banking and Currency Committee issued its 400-page final report documenting the systematic corruption, fraud, and market manipulation that caused the 1929 Wall Street crash and subsequent Great Depression. The investigation, which began on March 4, 1932 with Senate Resolution 84 and concluded with hearings ending on May 4, 1934, compiled exhaustive evidence of banking abuses under chief counsel Ferdinand Pecora. The report documented stock pool manipulation schemes, insider trading through “preferred lists” for political elites, corporate executives using their positions for personal profit while betraying fiduciary duties, systematic tax evasion by the wealthiest bankers, conflicts of interest between commercial and investment banking, and the sale of unsound securities to pay off bad loans. The investigation subpoenaed everyone involved, sifted through bankers’ personal records, established motives, and ferreted out discrepancies with prosecutorial thoroughness. Pecora’s meticulous exposure of Wall Street’s role in the crash forced the resignation of National City Bank president Charles Mitchell and Chase Bank chairman Albert Wiggin, while publicly humiliating J.P. Morgan Jr. The final report provided the evidentiary foundation for the Glass-Steagall Act, the Securities Act of 1933, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Pecora Commission represents the gold standard for congressional oversight and corporate accountability—a level of investigation that would never be replicated, particularly after the 2008 financial crisis when no major banking executives faced criminal prosecution.