US financial crisis panel might call Paulson

WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson might be among witnesses called to testify by Congress' Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, its chairman told Reuters Television in an interview on Thursday.

Speaking immediately after the bipartisan fact-finding panel's first meeting, Chairman Phil Angelides said it must examine the major financial institutions that collapsed or would have collapsed if not for government bailouts.

"Most people know there's a short list there. There's Lehman, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG. So we'll look at those major institutions," said Angelides, a Democrat and former California state treasurer.

"But we will be calling in many key players -- the credit rating agencies, the regulators. We want to do a full inquiry into what brought the financial system to its knees."

Asked if Paulson might be called in as a witness, he said: "We might well. Our job is to get the information." (Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)