For a commission with no ostensible power outside of the subpoena, Phil Angelides and the FCIC continue making headlines in their battle with Goldman Sachs, this time with a leak to the FT.
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Goldman Sachs is facing a threat by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to bring in outside accountants to comb through the bank’s systems for data on its derivatives business, the panel’s chairman has said.
The commission will not back down from demands for information Goldman’s executives have maintained they do not track, Phil Angelides told the Financial Times.
“We have a deep level of questioning about whether we’re getting the straight scoop here and whether Goldman is working with us on information that they surely have,” Mr Angelides, chairman of the US Congress-appointed commission.
Mr Angelides said he remained sceptical that Goldman did not have the derivatives information, given the bank’s reputation for risk management and its discipline in marking the value of every position daily. “It’s not credible that that’s a black hole,” Mr Angelides said. “It defies logic that these institutions have no clue of how much money they are making or losing from these derivatives.”
“We’ll pursue all of our options,” Mr Angelides said. “We’re going to continue to press this very hard.”