Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is telling a panel investigating the roots of the financial crisis that his policy of keeping interest rates low did not encourage risky lending, AP reported. Greenspan also is defending the Fed's failure to police most risky mortgage lending in remarks before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Greenspan opens three days of hearings by the commission, which was created by Congress. Critics say the Fed failed to regulate the consumer finance industry and its low interest-rate policy encouraged risky lending. Those loans became the toxic assets that sparked the crisis. The 10 bipartisan commissioners later will grill former and current executives of Citigroup Inc. about that bank's role in financing and reselling mortgage investments. -- SPA
