US bank Goldman Sachs accused of fraud

17/04/10 09:22 CET

world news

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US investment bank Goldman Sachs has been accused of defrauding investors, by financial regulators on Wall Street.

The charges focus on complex sub-prime mortgage products similar to those blamed for the worse financial crisis in decades.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says Goldman failed to disclose that a major hedge fund helped pick the investments and had taken speculative positions that they would fall in value.

Goldman Sachs created the securities in 2007 as the US housing market began to falter. Regulators say investors lost as much as 1 billion dollars.

The Wall Street giant denies any wrongdoing.

Goldman posted a record $13.4 billion (9.9 billion euro) profit in 2009, angering many in the US just a year after receiving $10 billion (7.4 billion euro) bailout from taxpayers.

More about: Financial Crisis, USA

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