WASHINGTON - WITH the $700 billion (S$998 billion) financial industry bailout bill now signed into law, the House of Representatives is looking into what drove Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy.

The hearing before the House Government Oversight Committee on Monday is part of the normal congressional review process.

Much of that was skipped in the rush to get the rescue bill enacted and to reassure nervous investors and the public. More hearings will be held in coming weeks.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Incorporated became the largest company to file for bankruptcy, and that event along with the government's rescue of American International Group Incorporated were among a host of developments that fostered growing market instability in the United States and around the world. -- AP