NEW YORK (Reuters) – The commission studying the worst financial crisis in decades might be doing a disservice to history by focusing this week on Goldman Sachs Group Inc as the ultimate Wall Street villain while going lightly on another key player, AIG.

During two days of hearings this week, the congressionally-appointed Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission called 10 current and former Goldman and American International Group Inc executives as witnesses, quizzing them about transactions between the financial giants.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – In an unusual legal twist, U.S. securities regulators won a legal victory this week when a federal judge dismissed an insider trading charge against a former Blackstone Group investment banker.

U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan granted a request by the Securities and Exchange Commission to dismiss its January 2009 civil complaint against Ramesh Chakrapani without prejudice, meaning regulators have the right to refile the case at a later date.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – One of the sleeper provisions in the 2,000-page financial regulatory reform bill may be one that is no more than six paragraphs long.

The brief section of the massive bill is aimed at stamping out some of the conflicts of interest that arise from Wall Street’s packaging and marketing of asset-backed securities — investment products backed by a pool of mortgages, loans or bonds.

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – It appears Wall Street investment banks can stay in the highly-profitable hedge fund business after all.

An overhaul of financial regulations hammered-out by U.S. lawmakers after weeks of negotiation would permit Wall Street banks to continue to manage and sponsor hedge funds along with private equity funds, according to lawyers and Wall Street officials familiar with the massive bill.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Four days after U.S. securities regulators charged Goldman Sachs Group(GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) with civil fraud, Ash Williams, the top administrator for Florida’s $138 billion in public investments, wanted to talk to someone at the Wall Street firm.

And he didn’t want to speak to just anyone. He asked specifically for Gary Cohn, Goldman’s president and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein’s top lieutenant.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Four days after U.S. securities regulators charged Goldman Sachs Group with civil fraud, Ash Williams, the top administrator for Florida’s $138 billion in public investments, wanted to talk to someone at the Wall Street firm.

And he didn’t want to speak to just anyone. He asked specifically for Gary Cohn, Goldman’s president and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein’s top lieutenant.

NEW YORK, June 11 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s
(GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) mounting legal and regulatory woes stemming from the
from the firm’s sale of subprime mortgage-linked securities are
turning into gold for a growing number of lawyers in New York
and Washington.

The Wall Street investment firm tapped well known
litigation specialists Boies, Schiller & Flexner to defend a
lawsuit filed June 9 by an Australian hedge fund that seeks $1
billion in damages, said people familiar with the situation,
but who declined to be identified because they were not
authorized to speak on the matter.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An Australian hedge fund is suing Goldman Sachs Group Inc over an investment in a subprime mortgage-linked security that contributed to the fund’s demise in 2007.

The lawsuit filed on Wednesday accuses Goldman of misrepresenting the value of the notorious Timberwolf collateralized debt obligation, which garnered a lot of attention during a recent congressional hearing.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An Australian hedge fund is suing Goldman Sachs Group Inc over an investment in a subprime mortgage-linked security that hastened the fund’s demise in 2007, a lawyer for the fund said.

The lawyer, Eric Lewis, said Basis Yield Alpha Fund is suing Goldman to recoup the $56 million it lost on the now notorious Timberwolf collateralized debt obligation, which garnered a lot of attention during a recent congressional hearing.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) may be looking at new legal headache, as settlement talks with an Australian hedge fund that invested $100 million in a now toxic mortgage-linked security appear to be breaking down, a source said.

Lawyers working for the Basis Yield Alpha Fund could file a lawsuit against Goldman over the transaction — called Timberwolf — as early as Wednesday, said a person familiar with the situation.