British Regulator Opens Goldman Inquiry

[babylonsister]

British Regulator Opens Goldman Inquiry
By JULIA WERDIGIER
Published: April 20, 2010


LONDON — The Financial Services Authority, Britain’s financial regulator, said Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into Goldman Sachs in relation to recent accusations in the United States that the firm defrauded investors.

“Following preliminary investigations, the F.S.A. has decided to commence a formal enforcement investigation into Goldman Sachs International in relation to recent S.E.C. allegations,” the regulator said in a two-sentence statement, referring to the Securities and Exchange Commission. “The F.S.A. will be liaising closely with the S.E.C. in this review.”

In an e-mailed statement, Goldman Sachs Group said it would cooperate with British investigators. The S.E.C.’s charges are “completely unfounded in law and fact,” the bank said in the statement. In earlier statements, Goldman has said that it would “vigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation.”

Pressure has been mounting on the British regulator to investigate Goldman Sachs’s international business outside the United States since the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud suit against the bank on Friday. Prime Minister Gordon Brown had called for a formal investigation over the weekend, and in an interview with the BBC said he was "shocked at this moral bankruptcy.”

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/business/global/21regulator.html?hp

[tsuki]

1. Now it is time for the German and the Greek governments to open inquiries on Goldman Sachs. nt

[Swamp Rat]

2. k&r