In taking on Goldman Sachs, the most successful and prestigious investment bank on Wall Street, and accusing it of securities fraud, the Securities and Exchange Commission has its work cut out.
Goldman's reaction – to deny the charge and stand firmly behind Fabrice Tourre, a vice-president who worked on the deal under investigation – reflects its confidence that the bank will be cleared in court. The SEC certainly does not have an open and shut case against it.
The most damning aspect of the SEC's case relates to what was not said in the offer documents about the synthetic collateralised debt obligation in which IKB, a German bank, invested. Anyone reading these papers alone would have no way of knowing the involvement of John Paulson's hedge fund.