Financial crisis could have been avoided: U.S. gov't panel

However, the nation's financial regulators failed to take timely step to check it, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission said.

"The crisis was the result of human action and inaction. The captains of finance and the public stewards of our financial system ignored warnings and failed to question, understand, and manage evolving risks within a system essential to the well-being of the American public."

The report pointed out that more than two years after the crisis, the world's largest economy, as well as communities and families across the United States, continued to experience the aftershocks, with millions of Americans having lost their jobs and their homes and the economy still struggling to rebound.

The 10-member panel was established in 2009, comprising experts in areas such as housing, economics, finance, market regulation, banking and consumer protection.

"The prime example is the Federal Reserve's pivotal failure to stem the flow of toxic mortgages, which it could have done by setting prudent mortgage-lending standards. The Federal Reserve was the one entity empowered to do so and it did not," according to the lengthy report which was based on research, probes and public hearings; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

See www.xinhuanet.com/english2010 for full version