Let the lawsuits roll..
By now, you’ve probably heard that the SEC has filed official charges of fraud against Goldman Sachs, but the little detail that might have escaped scrutiny is that the original SEC complaint is being followed up with a virtual flood of investigations, lawsuits, and even some criminal charges.
Not only are regulators across Europe looking for ways to get back at Goldman for its role in selling off toxic mortgages as AAA bonds (of course, the ratings agencies had to play along as well) because the German, French, and British banks that took the hit are now scrambling for enough funds to stay solvent in the face of debt crises in Spain, Greece, and Portugal.
Of course, mortgages aren’t the only part of the market that were manipulated in order to exaggerate sharp rises and falls in value – it has long been suspected that JP Morgan, Goldman, et al have been engaged in the aggressive ‘market-making’ speculation that has brought commodities, and especially precious metals, on a roller coaster over the last few years. If this report is true, someone at the DoJ is getting ready to go after JPM for fraud in the silver markets. When and if that happens, expect some immediate price instability – and possibly even investigations into the physical gold that is supposedly backing up all of the paper certificates sold in the last decade.
Keep an eye out for new lawsuits and complaints going public over the next few weeks. Its going to be an interesting time…