Wall Street Probe Illustrates Levin’s Clout

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) When U.S. Senator Carl Levin declared that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) “clearly misled their clients and misled the Congress,” few analysts predicted his allegations would still be reverberating two months later.

Instead the firm’s shares have fallen 16 percent in New York trading since April 13, when Levin’s investigative panel released an exhaustive report on the roots of the 2008 economic meltdown. The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are examining the findings. Last week the Manhattan District Attorney joined in with a subpoena to Goldman Sachs.

The bank stuck to muted criticism of the Levin report until yesterday, when people briefed on Goldman Sachs’s strategy said the firm was considering preparing its own document to refute the Senate report’s contention it held a “big short” against the housing market while marketing mortgage-backed securities.

The impact of the two-year inquiry is only the latest illustration of the clout of Levin and his Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The Michigan Democrat, who’s headed the panel on and off for a total of six years since 2001, has helped fuel legislative and court action with his focus on issues including sham accounting at Enron Corp., credit-card rules, money-laundering and tax shelters for the wealthy. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/wall-street-probe-illustrates-clout-of-levin-s-senate-committee.html