"Ex-AIG executive testifies he didn’t ease standards to allow risky trades" by Marcy Gordon, Associated Press | July 1, 2010
WASHINGTON — AIG received a $182 billion taxpayer bailout after it nearly collapsed and helped trigger the financial crisis. AIG sold billions of dollars of credit default swaps, guarantees on mortgage securities that forced AIG to pay billions after the housing market went bust.
Well, "forced" taxpayers, anyway.
A beneficiary of the AIG money was Goldman Sachs Group.
Goldman Sachs profited from its bets against the housing market before the crisis. It continued to ring up huge profits after accepting bailout money.
Then why did it need "bailout" money and why is the economy still in the s***ter?
Its dealings in another type of derivative, known as collateralized debt obligations, have brought it scrutiny by a Senate panel and in one case, civil fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Goldman has denied any wrongdoing.
Related: Goldman Sachs' Rigged Gambling Game
“We did not bet against our clients,’’ Gary Cohn, Goldman’s president, told the panel. “During the two years of the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs lost $1.2 billion in its residential mortgage-related business.’’Then they MADE IT ALL BACK and MORE!
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And then were ARROGANT about it!
"CFO says Goldman entitled to payout; Asserts AIG debt had to be honored" by Marcy Gordon, Associated Press | July 2, 2010
WASHINGTON — A Goldman Sachs executive told an inquiry panel yesterday that the firm had no regrets about collecting billions of dollars in taxpayer money for correctly predicting the demise of the US housing market.
Un-flipping-real.
David Viniar, Goldman’s chief financial officer, said Uncle Sam had an obligation to honor American International Group’s full debts. The firm was entitled to be paid $12.9 billion out of the $182 billion bailout that went to insurance giant AIG.
‘‘The government stepped into AIG’s shoes’’ and therefore had to honor its contract with Goldman, Viniar told the congressionally appointed panel investigating the financial meltdown.
Members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission couldn’t understand how Goldman could take the full amount owed by AIG, knowing that US taxpayers were picking up the tab at the onset of the worst recession since the 1930s.
Oh, I understand how they could.
The question is WHY did the CONGRESS GIVE THEM the MONEY when WE DIDN'T WANT THEM TO!
‘‘You were 100 percent recompensed on that deal, and the only people who were out money were the American public,’’ said Brooksley Born, a panel member.
The government ‘‘paid 100 cents on the dollar for something that was going for 48 cents at the time,’’ said Bill Thomas, the panel’s vice chairman and a California Republican who previously served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
The panel investigated Goldman’s actions for a second day of hearings examining the firm’s relationship with AIG, and how the two’s derivatives trading helped precipitate the financial crisis.
AIG sold billions of dollars of credit default swaps, guarantees on mortgage securities that ended up forcing the company to pay out billions after the subprime mortgage bubble burst in 2007.
Goldman Sachs Group profited from its bets against the housing market before the crisis. Its derivatives dealings have drawn harsh scrutiny. The firm continued to reap huge profits after accepting federal bailout money.
A previously disclosed 2007 e-mail has Viniar indicating that the firm made more than $50 million in one day on bets that the housing market would founder....
Related: How Much Money Did You Make Today?
And they did that EVERY DAY, DAY AFTER DAY, for 90 DAYS!
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And nothing but a loving grasp of the wrist for Goldman:
"$550m settles Goldman fraud case; Penalty is largest in SEC history for a financial firm" by Todd Wallack, Globe Staff | July 16, 2010
About ten days "work," right?
Goldman Sachs & Co. has agreed to pay a blockbuster $550 million in penalties and restitution to settle civil fraud charges that it misled investors into buying a package of toxic mortgages that were allegedly designed to fail, the Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday.
It cost us way more than that!
Of course, the SEC is too busy watching porn to monitor the market.
The deal, one of the largest settlements related to the housing market meltdown, calls for Goldman to pay $300 million in fines to the US Treasury and $250 million in restitution to two major European banks that lost money in the deal: the German bank IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG and Royal Bank of Scotland....
Americans..... sigh!
In April, the SEC accused Goldman of marketing bundled mortgage investments without telling buyers the securities were handpicked with help from a hedge fund, Paulson & Co., that wanted to bet the mortgages would fail....
It's called HEADS I WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE!
By packaging the loans as securities that could be sold to investors, Goldman provided mortgage lenders with fresh capital to make more subprime mortgage loans, federal authorities said....
As if it were all a good thing!
In a statement regarding the SEC settlement, Goldman acknowledged that “it was a mistake’’ for its marketing materials to omit the fact that a Goldman client had helped to craft the portfolio — and that the client’s financial interests ran counter to those of the investors....
Is that what they are calling looting these days?
Though the settlement is subject to a federal judge’s approval, Goldman’s stock price shot up after news of the settlement leaked....
Oh, well, then everyone is happy, right?
The $550 million payment amounts to about 4 percent of Goldman’s $13 billion profit last year....
And I heard they were pulling down about $50 million a day!
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"AIG agrees to $725m investor suit settlement" by Associated Press | July 17, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio — American International Group Inc. and some of its directors and officers have agreed to a $725 million settlement to resolve allegations of wide-ranging fraud laid out in a class-action suit led by three Ohio pension funds.
Richard Cordray, Ohio’s attorney general, said yesterday that the latest figure will combine with previous AIG settlements reached with secondary defendants to pay about $1 billion to shareholders, including pensions representing firefighters, police, teachers, and librarians....
You know, the GOOD PEOPLE of America!
Because it went away.
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Even their own are screaming thief at them:
"Liberty Mutual accuses Goldman Sachs of fraud" by Bloomberg News | July 10, 2010
NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs is being accused in a lawsuit by Liberty Mutual Insurance of misleading investors in 2007 when it sold Fannie Mae preferred shares while betting against the US mortgage market.
Goldman misrepresented Fannie Mae’s health when it underwrote the offerings, in which the insurer invested $62.5 million, according to a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Boston. The investment bank said the offering was to raise surplus capital when it was actually needed to help Fannie Mae sustain its business, said Boston-based Liberty Mutual, which accused Goldman of securities fraud.
Yeah, keep that stinking hulk of a trillion-dollar toilet alive with insurance money!
“As a knowledgeable and sophisticated investor in the US real estate financial markets, and with access to Fannie Mae’s financial records, Goldman knew or recklessly disregarded the actual status of Fannie Mae’s capital structure,’’ Liberty Mutual said in the complaint. The mortgage guarantor was seized by the US government in 2008.
We call it lying and looting around here.
A spokesman for Goldman, said the suit was without merit would be contested.
Goldman has come under fire for its underwriting and investments as mortgage markets collapsed. The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Goldman in April, claiming it sold a collateralized debt obligation without disclosing that a hedge fund helped pick underlying securities and bet against the vehicles. Goldman has denied wrongdoing.
Oh, I forgot the link?
Ooops.
At least AIG is back on its feet, right?
That means YOU, taxpayers of America!
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Of course, government and MSM even go so far as to claim you somehow MADE MONEY of the BAILOUTS!
And look who else the SEC nailed:
"Citigroup agrees to pay $75m to settle SEC charges" by Marcy Gordon, Associated Press | July 30, 2010
WASHINGTON — Banking titan Citigroup is paying $75 million to settle civil charges that it misled investors about its potential losses from subprime mortgages as the housing bust hit in 2007.
So they were ALL DOING IT, huh?
The Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed the settlement with Citigroup yesterday. It said the company repeatedly made misleading statements in calls with analysts and regulatory filings about the extent of its holdings tied to high-risk mortgages.
We call them LIES around here!
Related: You Belong to the Citi
Those would be the newspapers.
Same type of trades "surprised" with profit, huh?
The bank had said the exposure was $13 billion or less. The SEC said it exceeded $50 billion.
Citigroup earned $2.7 billion in the second quarter of this year, so the penalty represents less than 3 percent of its net income from April through June.
Why didn't they just stick a tongue up their ass, too?
The settlement marked the second time in weeks that the agency reached an agreement on punitive action against a major Wall Street firm in connection with the crisis. Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs & Co. agreed to pay $550 million to settle charges that it sold mortgage investments without telling buyers that the securities had been crafted with input from a client that was betting on them to fail.
Citigroup was one of the hardest-hit banks during the financial crisis. It received $45 billion from the $700 billion financial bailout — among the largest of government rescues....
Yeah, whatever!
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