In a frenzy to protect its interests at the start of the credit crisis, Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold mortgage-linked derivatives to clients at inflated prices and misrepresented the nature of the deals, according to documents released by a Senate subcommittee.
Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who heads the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, told a press briefing on Wednesday that Goldman had "exploited" clients and that top executives had lied to Congress during testimony in 2010."They gained at the expense of their clients and they used abusive practices to do it," said Levin, adding there was still time for regulatory agencies to take action against Wall Street.
The company said that while it disagreed with many of the conclusions, it took seriously the issues explored by the subcommittee.The bipartisan subcommittee issued a report Wednesday on Wall Street's role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis, and used Goldman Sachs as one of its case studies.As the market for related credit derivatives ground to a halt in 2007, Goldman management became increasingly concerned about the company's exposure.
Top executives held a meeting on May 11, 2007, to develop a "Gameplan" to value those assets. A few days later, Dan Sparks, who headed Goldman's mortgage division, estimated the company might have to take a $382 million write-down on its portfolio."I think we should take the write-down, but market at much higher levels," Sparks told Thomas Montag, then the head of sales and trading, in an email message, according to the subcommittee report.
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