The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a bipartisan commission that was appointed by Congress to investigate and report on the causes of the financial crisis, reported that Goldman Sachs tried to conceal information and obstruct its investigation into the causes of the crisis, according to USA Today’s David Lieberman in his June 8 article, “Goldman accused of trying to thwart probe.”
Among other things, Goldman has failed to arrange times for the commission to interview senior executives, and buried responses to specific information requests in millions of pages of unneeded documents. “They stretched us out thinking they played the game cleverly,” FCIC Vice Chairman Bill Thomas was quoted as saying. “They may have more to cover up than we thought.”
“You could not construe what (Goldman) did as anything other than deliberate and disruptive,” Chairman Phil Angelides was quoted as saying. “We were perhaps more patient than we should have been,” he added. “We’re not going to let the American people be played for chumps here.”
Goldman was recently sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud in marketing and selling a collateralized debt obligation known as Abacus. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is investigating Goldman for the same conduct that is the subject of the SEC lawsuit.
“Goldman is the occupant of a one-room doghouse right now,” Michael Robinson of Levick Strategic Communications, a crisis-management firm, was quoted as saying. “Not cooperating (with the FCIC) is a way to guarantee a long stay.”
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has conducted a number of hearings and has subpoenaed witnesses, such as Warren Buffett. It is expected to report its findings by Dec. 15.
Page Perry is an Atlanta-based law firm with over 125 years collective experience representing institutional and individual investors in securities-related litigation and arbitration all over the country. While past results are not indicative of future success, Page Perry’s attorneys have recovered over $1,000,000 for clients on more than 30 occasions.