The bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, charged with getting to the bottom of what caused the recent global financial crisis, announced five new senior staff positions Tuesday that suggest the panel will have some muscle.

In a statement, Chairman Phil Angelides and Vice Chairman Bill Thomas said they had appointed Bart Dzivi as special counsel. He held senior government and Senate investigative positions during the savings and loan crisis, the closest approximate to today's banking meltdown.

The panel leaders also said Martin Biegelman, most recently director of financial integrity for Microsoft Corp., will serve as assistant director for the commission. At Microsoft, Biegelman led a global team focused on corruption and fraud, the panel statement said.

Former Alabama Securities Commission Director Thomas Krebs, who founded a six-state task force to prosecute financial crime, will serve as a deputy general counsel.

The panel, which must issue its report by Dece. 15, 2010, also tapped two lawyers versed in complex financial and securities cases. Bradley Bondi, a former partner in the firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, will serve as another deputy general counsel. And Dixie Noonan, who worked for powerhouse Sullivan & Cromwell, was named an investigative counsel.

More hires are expected in coming days. Leaders of the inquiry commission recently told McClatchy that they won't pull punches and will go after top players in both government agencies and Wall Street firms as they probe what led to the financial crisis.

The commission met privately Monday with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and Tuesday morning with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.