Goldman Sachs and Financial Organized Crime

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Goldman Sachs’ business practices. Apparently, the investigation’s scope goes beyond the mortgage-related investor fraud alleged in the U.S. Security & Exchange Commission’s April 16, 2010, civil suit. The New York attorney-general also recently embarked on its own investigation into whether Goldman Sachs and other banks duped credit rating agencies to garner artificially high ratings for its suspect securities. The company will now have to answer to a subpoena probing its conduct in relation to investors more broadly viewed than was the case previously. These represent further examples in the gray zone where questionable activities can cross the threshold from civil to criminal...(more)...