Financial crisis panel refers cases to authorities: report

The online news source cited two unnamed sources that it said were directly involved in the work of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The bipartisan panel was created by Congress in 2009 to research and report on the origins of the 2007-2009 crisis that rocked world financial markets.

Commission spokesman Tucker Warren, reached late on Monday night, declined to comment on the report.

The Huffington Post said its sources did not identify the people implicated or their institutions. It said the sources "characterized the panel's decision to make referrals to prosecutors as a significant escalation in the government's response to the financial crisis."

The report said that "civil charges appear a more likely outcome should prosecution result." It said one source said "criminal charges should not be ruled out."

The commission is scheduled to release its final report on Thursday. The main report is expected to be endorsed by only the six Democratic members of the 10-member panel, with three Republican members releasing a separate minority report, and a fourth Republican unveiling a report of his own.

The impact of the commission's work on policy-making was expected to be limited, analysts said, since a major reform package for Wall Street and the banking industry was approved last year and is being implemented already by regulators.

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh and Dave Clarke; Editing by Vicki Allen)