Financial Regulatory Forum

   By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
   BOSTON, April 20 (Reuters) – Clients with Paulson & Co, which was involved in a mortgage deal that prompted civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs <GS.N>, spoke with the manager on Monday, but so far no one has notified the firm of plans to leave his fund, several investors said. (more…)

   By Steve Eder and Steve Slater
   NEW YORK/LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc <GS.N> said first-quarter earnings nearly doubled, and Britain’s financial regulator launched a formal probe related to civil fraud allegations against the Wall Street bank. (more…)

   LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) – Britain’s financial regulator started a formal enforcement investigation into Goldman Sachs <GS.N> on Tuesday, four days after U.S. regulators filed a fraud case against Wall Street’s biggest investment bank. (more…)

   By Nicholas Dunbar — The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own –
   LONDON, April 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) – In December 2000 I received an email from the Goldman Sachs <GS.N> press office in New York, nominating the firm for Risk magazine’s “Risk Manager of the Year” award. Central to the pitch was how the Wall Street bank had run a boot camp for its supervisors at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, training them in concepts like value-at-risk and derivatives hedging. (more…)

    WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) – U.S. Representative Barney Frank said on Monday that securities regulators’ fraud case against Goldman Sachs <GS.N> increases the chance that financial reform will pass. (more…)

   By Hugo Dixon and Richard Beales
   LONDON/NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Were the investors who lost $1 billion by buying a fearfully complex product sold by Goldman Sachs <GS.N> in the dying days of the credit boom fools or victims? That’s the key distinction on which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s fraud charges, which roiled the investment bank when they were unveiled on Friday, hinge. (more…)

   By Adrian Croft
   LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Sunday he wanted Britain’s financial watchdog to investigate U.S. bank Goldman Sachs <GS.N> after it was charged with fraud by U.S. regulators. (more…)

      By John Kemp — John Kemp is a Reuters columnist. The  views expressed are his own – 
   LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) – It is now virtually certain financial reform legislation will go sailing through the Senate, following the complaint filed against Goldman Sachs <GS.N> and an employee in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by the Securities and Exchange Commission this afternoon. (more…)

By Luke Baker and David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS, Feb 15 (Reuters) – The European Union has asked Greece to explain reports that it engaged in derivatives trades with U.S. investment banks that may have allowed it to mask the size of its debt and deficit from EU authorities.

According to the New York Times, one contract in 2001 — carried out just as Greece was joining Europe’s monetary union — involved Greece selling forward future lottery receipts and airport landing fees in exchange for cash to write down debts.

The deal was treated as a currency trade rather than a loan, according to the newspaper, allowing Greece to hide it from public view while meeting EU deficit limits.

– The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own –

By George Hay

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Goldman Sachs is taking its time, but it’s not clear why. Employees at the investment bank are usually told their annual bonus a few days before full-year results. But even though shareholders will discover the total amount spent on compensation on results day this Thursday, staff must now wait until next week to hear their individual windfall.

Goldman’s own explanation for the delay is that the welter of new regulations in 2009 has caused some slippage in working out individual bonuses. The G20 guidelines and the UK’s 50 percent tax on payouts over 25,000 pounds mean banks have new shackles, while Goldman’s conversion to a bank holding company means its financial year ends in December instead of a month earlier.