Big day for Goldman Sachs:
After a year-long investigation, the Justice Department said Thursday that it will not bring charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. or any of its employees for financial fraud related to the mortgage crisis.
In a statement released Thursday, the Justice Department said "the burden of proof" couldn't be met to prosecute Goldman criminally based on claims made in an extensive report prepared by a U.S. Senate panel that investigated the financial crisis.
"Based on the law and evidence as they exist at this time, there is not a viable basis to bring a criminal prosecution with respect to Goldman Sachs or its employees in regard to the allegations set forth in the report," the statement read.
The Justice Department reserved the right to bring charges in the future if new evidence emerges.
Separately, the SEC closed its investigation of a Goldman mortgage deal without pursuing any enforcement actions. The New York Times reports:
Goldman Sachs disclosed that an investigation into a $1.3 billion subprime mortgage deal has ended without an enforcement action.
The Securities and Exchange Commission‘s decision to forgo action is an about-face for the federal regulator. In February, the S.E.C. notified Goldman that it planned to pursue a civil enforcement action over the deal, a package of subprime mortgages in Fremont, Calif., that the bank sold to investors in 2006.
The S.E.C. was examining whether Goldman misled investors into thinking the mortgage securities were a safe bet. At the time, Goldman said it would fight to convince regulators that they were mistaken.
On Monday, the bank learned that it was successful. Goldman was “notified by the S.E.C. staff that the investigation into this offering has been completed,” the bank said in a quarterly filing released on Thursday, “and that the staff does not intend to recommend any enforcement action.”
Read More
