US Drops Probe Into Goldman Sachs Mortgage Scam

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped an investigation into Goldman Sachs Group Inc's role in selling $1.3 billion worth of subprime mortgage securities, the investment bank said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

In February, Goldman received a so-called Wells notice from SEC staff related to disclosures in the deal's offering documents. Such notices typically indicate the agency plans to take some kind of enforcement action, and gives firms a chance to respond.
On Monday, the SEC notified Goldman that the investigation had been closed and that it did not intend to recommend any enforcement action against the bank related to the offering, Goldman said in its quarterly 10-Q filing with the SEC.

Huffington Post

Goldman Sachs director quits 'morally bankrupt' Wall Street bank

Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs has suffered a severe blow to its reputation after one of its bankers announced his resignation in the New York Times by declaring his employer "morally bankrupt". Questions were immediately raised about the relationship between the firm and its clients – whom the departing employee, Greg Smith, said were described as "muppets" by his superiors.

Smith, who was based in London, made a savage attack on the culture of Goldman, which only two years ago was damaged by another London-based banker, Fabrice Tourre, who described creating "Frankenstein" products that showed scant regard for the needs of the firm's clients. Smith's public resignation letter made reference to the Tourre affair, as well as to the infamous description of Goldman in Rolling Stone magazine as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity".

More on The Guardian

What credit crunch?

Goldman Sachs bankers in line for £1.5 BILLION pay and bonus pot (and that's just for London staff). With Britain in the grip of a recession, the announcement last night will only add to public fury over City payouts. The company, which is awarding its workers £8.2billion globally, has 5,300 staff based in Britain.

The news comes despite disappointing annual results from the investment bank. Goldman is expected to reveal profits fell to £1.95billion last year, from £5.5billion in 2010. This would make it its second lowest annual profit in almost ten years, reflecting the impact Europe's debt crisis is having on the Wall Street bank. The company's president, Gary Cohn, said the large payouts were necessary for staff retention. The total pot this year is £1.8billion less than the £10billion awarded for their efforts the previous year.

Mail Online

Goldman Sachs v. Occupy Wall Street

Democracy Now! talks to investigative reporter Greg Palast about a controversy in the banking community around the Occupy Wall Street movement. Palast investigates the story behind Goldman Sachs' recent decision to pull out of a fundraiser for the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union in New York City after it learned the event was honouring the protesters at Occupy Wall Street. The investment bank withdrew its name from the fundraiser and also cancelled a $5,000 pledge. Was the $5,000 a Goldman Sachs donation or actually American taxpayer bail-out money Goldman set aside for community banks?

A Greg Palast Investigation on Democracy Now

"The Collapse Is Coming...And Goldman Rules The World"

BBC financial expert Alessio Rastani: 'I'm an attention seeker not a trader' – Telegraph, or:

The Yes Men publicly denied that Rastani is a member. And the BBC said in a statement that it doesn't think he is, either: "We've carried out detailed investigations and can't find any evidence to suggest that the interview with Alessio Rastani was a hoax. He is an independent market trader and one of a range of voices we've had on air to talk about the recession."

"We've never heard of Rastani," the group said in a statement of its own. "He isn't a Yes Man. He's a real trader who is, for one reason or another, being more honest than usual." – The Cutline