Goldman Sachs Subpoenaed Over Financial Crisis

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has subpoenaed Goldman Sachs. The New York Times says that someone familiar with this matter told the newspaper that the prosecutor is seeking information related to the financial crisis. The District Attorney’s request comes following the Senate investigators’ report last April accusing the financial firm of abusive conduct.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations produced the report, which claims that Goldman Sachs contributed to the financial crisis when it developed mortgage-linked investments that allowed it to make money even as its clients sustained financial losses. Per the NY Times, this subpoena, which comes nearly three years after the height of the crisis, is a clear indicator that officials are continuing to probe the role that Wall Street might have played.

It was last year that Goldman Sachs consented to settle for $550 million the Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing it of misleading investors about an investment package linked to subprime mortgages. Even as it bet against the package, the financial firm neglected to disclose that Paulson & Co. helped choose the loans. While investors in the Abacus 2007-AC1 collateralized debt obligation (CDO) lost over $1 billion, Paulson made approximately $1 billion.

The report is also alleging a wider scope of abusive conduct by Goldman. For example, when the mortgage market was failing in 2007, the financial firm allegedly sold mortgage-related investments to buyers but neglected to tell them that it was betting against the subprime market and would make money if some of these securities lost value. Goldman also allegedly minted CDOs with assets that it thought might “lose money,” while selling them at prices higher than what they thought they were worth.

Per the report, these arrangements resulted in a number of conflicts of interests and allegedly allowed Goldman to put its interests before its clients. One example involves Goldman choosing assets for the Hudson 1, which is a $2 billion CDO. The report says that the financial firm neglected to reveal that it’s $2 billion short position far outweighed the $6 million investment it made on the same side as the buyers of the CDO.

Goldman has said that it disagrees with many of the report’s findings.

Goldman Sachs subpoenaed, Washington Post, June 2, 2011

Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: The Role of Investment Banks, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

More Blog Posts:
Goldman Sachs Ordered by FINRA to Pay $650K Fine For Not Disclosing that Broker Responsible for CDO ABACUS 2007-ACI Was Target of SEC Investigation, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, November 12, 2010

Goldman Sachs Settles SEC Subprime Mortgage-CDO Related Charges for $550 Million, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, July 30, 2010

Securities Practices of JPMorgan Chase & Goldman Sachs Under Investigation by Federal Investigators, Institutional Investors Securities Blog, May 19, 2011

Do not hesitate to contact our securities fraud attorneys if you are an institutional investor who believes that you sustained financial losses because of financial fraud by a broker-dealer, broker, or investment adviser.