I blogged on this very topic back in late December, and now the SEC is cracking down hard. As one financial industry insider quoted in the second link says, “This is big.”
From the second link:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc was charged with fraud on Friday by U.S. securities regulators in the structuring and marketing of a debt product tied to subprime mortgages.
The Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit alleges that Paulson & Co, a major hedge fund run by the billionaire John Paulson, worked with Goldman in creating the collateralized debt obligation, and stood to benefit as its value fell, costing investors more than $1 billion.
Fabrice Tourre, a Goldman vice president who the SEC said was principally responsible for creating the product, was also charged with fraud.
Paulson has not been charged. “Goldman made the representations here to the investors, Paulson did not,” SEC enforcement chief Robert Khuzami said on a conference call.
Goldman said in a press release that the SEC’s charges are completely unfounded in law and fact and it will vigorously contest them.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, marks a dramatic expansion of regulatory efforts to hold people and companies responsible for activity that contributed to the nation’s financial crises. It also comes as lawmakers in Washington debate sweeping reform of financial industry regulation.