The US Securities and Exchange Commission has vowed to bring more high-profile enforcement actions against Wall Street over the financial crisis, following last month’s $550m settlement with Goldman Sachs.
US regulators told the Financial Times the SEC’s contentious civil fraud case against the bank over the sale of mortgage-backed securities was an example of the type of high-profile action its revamped enforcement division was working on.
“Deterrence works in the white-collar world. Financial institutions look at cases like Goldman and review their own practices and risk-tolerance and think about how risky behaviour affects their brand,” said Robert Khuzami, SEC director of enforcement.