4 ms·

Did the SEC Bait Goldman into Compounding Its Legal Problems?

35 points by tortilla 17y ago

grellas 17y ago
Usually, corporate lawyers are unavailable on short notice to work weekends. When a company or individual receives a subpoena or lawsuit on a Friday, they are left to stew in anxiety over the weekend until Monday, before their lawyers can appropriately advice them on how to respond to the SEC. Wow, so not true at major law firms! Partners and associates at such firms are ready to drop everything, anytime and anywhere, to accommodate their premier clients, and especially over something so important as this SEC complaint. In essence, the author contends that Goldman has exacerbated its problems by issuing a press release defending its general legal position in the case. I am not as SEC expert, though I used to do "Wells submissions" back in the day at a big firm, but I am dubious that this constitutes 10b-5 violations of any sort. The author is a former CPA who was himself convicted of a felony in this area. Very strange item, to say the least.
- gonzo 17y ago
  associates working weekends? all the time. partners? not so much.
  - tortilla 17y ago
    I'm pretty sure it ruined the weekends for the partners at Sullivan & Cromwell too :)
    - waterlesscloud 17y ago
      Yeah, it's hard to imagine that with one of the highest profile firms in the country with one of the top firms in the world representing them facing what could be an existential threat that the partners wouldn't be working weekends. GS has slightly better resources than Crazy Eddies.
      - alecco 17y ago
        I bet partners in major law firms have planned agendas maximizing weekend trips like most people earning >.5Mill/yr. Instead, I'd object the argument that they can't do most of it remotely with teleconferencing an keyboard-PDAs.
spazmaster 17y ago
To be honest, I didn't know what to think of SEC suing Goldman Sachs, and if it really would matter. But his analysis gives some hope^: * Goldman Sachs has entrenched their position and tied their fate to Mr. Tourre's. If Tourre goes down this will have (major) implications for Goldman Sachs. They could have put Mr. Tourre on leave till the issue was settled in court. * SEC put one of their "top dogs" on this case * Cover up of a crime is more dangerous than the crime it self. Goldman Sachs's statement denies the accusation and says SEC's filing is 'unfounded in law and fact'. This statement could be seen as continuing to try to cover up the crime. ^hope for us plebs who would like to see banksters be brought to justice
- Estragon 17y ago
  ...his analysis gives some hope... Exactly what I came over here to say. I have become very cynical about how this appears to be working out.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
tlb 17y ago
I'd be happier with a system that got to the bottom of the original crime, rather than trying to entrap them into new crimes trying to defend their public image.
- dandelany 17y ago
  But pragmatically, I'd be happy with any system that doesn't let them walk.
  - tlb 17y ago
    Getting to the bottom of what went wrong is important to the future of the US economy, far more important than jailing a few alleged swindlers.
rikthevik 17y ago
Has anyone read the bio on the author? The guy was the CFO of Crazy Eddie back in the day and got seriously worked over by the SEC. This is seriously interesting stuff.

35 points by tortilla 17y ago

Usually, corporate lawyers are unavailable on short notice to work weekends. When a company or individual receives a subpoena or lawsuit on a Friday, they are left to stew in anxiety over the weekend until Monday, before their lawyers can appropriately advice them on how to respond to the SEC. Wow, so not true at major law firms! Partners and associates at such firms are ready to drop everything, anytime and anywhere, to accommodate their premier clients, and especially over something so important as this SEC complaint. In essence, the author contends that Goldman has exacerbated its problems by issuing a press release defending its general legal position in the case. I am not as SEC expert, though I used to do "Wells submissions" back in the day at a big firm, but I am dubious that this constitutes 10b-5 violations of any sort. The author is a former CPA who was himself convicted of a felony in this area. Very strange item, to say the least.

gonzo 17y ago
associates working weekends? all the time. partners? not so much.
- tortilla 17y ago
  I'm pretty sure it ruined the weekends for the partners at Sullivan & Cromwell too :)
  - waterlesscloud 17y ago
    Yeah, it's hard to imagine that with one of the highest profile firms in the country with one of the top firms in the world representing them facing what could be an existential threat that the partners wouldn't be working weekends. GS has slightly better resources than Crazy Eddies.
    - alecco 17y ago
      I bet partners in major law firms have planned agendas maximizing weekend trips like most people earning >.5Mill/yr. Instead, I'd object the argument that they can't do most of it remotely with teleconferencing an keyboard-PDAs.

spazmaster 17y ago

To be honest, I didn't know what to think of SEC suing Goldman Sachs, and if it really would matter. But his analysis gives some hope^: * Goldman Sachs has entrenched their position and tied their fate to Mr. Tourre's. If Tourre goes down this will have (major) implications for Goldman Sachs. They could have put Mr. Tourre on leave till the issue was settled in court. * SEC put one of their "top dogs" on this case * Cover up of a crime is more dangerous than the crime it self. Goldman Sachs's statement denies the accusation and says SEC's filing is 'unfounded in law and fact'. This statement could be seen as continuing to try to cover up the crime. ^hope for us plebs who would like to see banksters be brought to justice

Estragon 17y ago
...his analysis gives some hope... Exactly what I came over here to say. I have become very cynical about how this appears to be working out.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

tlb 17y ago

I'd be happier with a system that got to the bottom of the original crime, rather than trying to entrap them into new crimes trying to defend their public image.

dandelany 17y ago
But pragmatically, I'd be happy with any system that doesn't let them walk.
- tlb 17y ago
  Getting to the bottom of what went wrong is important to the future of the US economy, far more important than jailing a few alleged swindlers.

rikthevik 17y ago

Has anyone read the bio on the author? The guy was the CFO of Crazy Eddie back in the day and got seriously worked over by the SEC. This is seriously interesting stuff.