Goldman Probe Could Go Right to the Top

Ex-employees say Blankfein oversaw the target of SEC's suit

By Kate Seamons

Posted Apr 19, 2010 7:21 AM CDT
Updated Apr 19, 2010 7:41 AM CDT

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Goldman Probe Could Go Right to the Top — Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, left, gestures on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Though the SEC's civil suit against Goldman Sachs only names one vice president, it may end up implicating those much, much closer to the top. The New York Times, in interviews with eight former employees, has learned that senior execs—including CEO Lloyd Blankfein—played a major role in overseeing the mortgage unit in question.

Though a Goldman rep maintains that said execs did not approve the deals, the Times was told that the mortgage unit had drawn the attention of Blankfein, as well as the company's president and CFO, by early 2007, and that the three—in a move unusual for Wall Street—visited the unit often, in many cases for hours at a time. And pressure continues to build across the Atlantic, with Gordon Brown joining Germany in going after Goldman, calling for a "special investigation" yesterday.
(More SEC stories.)

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