Investment
bank Goldman Sachs has escaped prosecution over a part it allegedly played in
the Global Financial Crisis. The bank had been held up as a symbol of Wall
Street greed.
In a
statement late Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department said "there is not a
viable basis to bring a criminal prosecution with respect to Goldman Sachs or
its employees."
The charges
related to trades made during the financial crisis were highlighted in a 2011
U.S Senate report.
The Senate
committee alleged the financial services giant betted its own money on the
imminent collapse of the credit market, all the while including investments
tied to subprime mortgages in its clients' portfolios. U.S. Senator Carl Levin
said Goldman misled the country's Congress and investors.
The Senate
inquiry centred on a subprime mortgage known as Abacus.
The
decision by the Justice Department to announce it wasn't prosecuting Goldman
Sachs is unusual, as the department usually does not make public statements
when it concludes an investigation.
"The
department and investigative agencies ultimately concluded that the burden of
proof to bring a criminal case could not be met based on the law and facts as
they exist at this time," the Justice Department said in a statement late
on Thursday.
The
statement said investigators and prosecutors worked on their inquiry for
"more than a year."
"If
any additional or new evidence emerges, today's assessment does not prevent the
department from reviewing such evidence and making a different determination,
if warranted," the statement said.
Since the
beginning of the global financial crisis in 2008, Goldman Sachs and the wider
financial sector have come under widespread condemnation from politicians and
the public.
"We
are pleased that this matter is behind us," said the bank's spokesman
David Wells.
However,
the case is a reminder that no individual or organisation has been held
accountable for their role in the crisis, according to Neil Barofsky, a former
supervisor of the U.S. government's financial system bailout in 2008. Barofsky
is an outspoken critic of that government's response to the financial crisis.
"Without
such accountability, the unending parade of megabanks scandals will inevitably
continue," he said.
jr (Reuters, dpa)
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