Governor Gregoire on the demise of WaMu

Last night, Governor Chris Gregoire issued a strong and forceful statement on the unfortunate and sudden end of savings & loan giant Washington Mutual. Gregoire called recent developments on Wall Street "sickening" and correctly observed that a lack of federal oversight is to blame for our economic crisis:

Like all working families, I am sickened by the recent failures of financial institutions on Wall Street. And like my fellow Washingtonians, I am saddened and disappointed that Washington Mutual, which grew from a small Seattle savings institution to one of the nation’s largest lenders, has had to sell its banking operations.

The sale of this Washington icon is more evidence that the federal government’s failed regulatory policies of the past eight years – in this case related to the mortgage markets – hurts Washington working families and Washington’s economy.

My hope is that J.P. Morgan Chase and Company will consider WaMu’s employees, customers and its importance to the economic and social fabric of our state. Today, I exchanged phone messages with J.P. Morgan’s Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, and I plan to talk with him in the morning. I will monitor further developments closely in the days ahead.

In another development, Washington Mutual, Inc. announced this morning the conditional exchange of preferred securities into depository shares.

We'll have more on this news later today.