Goldman Sachs svar på SEC-stämningen

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”Goldman Sachs Makes Further Comments on SEC Complaint

Business WireNEW YORK – April 16, 2010

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) said today:

We are disappointed that the SEC would bring this action related to a single transaction in the face of an extensive record which establishes that the accusations are unfounded in law and fact.

We want to emphasize the following four critical points which were missingfrom the SEC’s complaint.

1) Goldman Sachs Lost Money On The Transaction.

Goldman Sachs, itself, lost more than $90 million.

Our fee was $15 million.

We were subject to losses and we did not structure a portfolio that was designed to lose money.

2) Extensive Disclosure Was Provided.

IKB, a large German Bank and sophisticated CDO market participant and ACA Capital Management, the two investors, were provided extensive information about the underlying mortgage securities.

The risk associated with the securities was known to these investors, who were among the most sophisticated mortgage investors in the world.

These investors also understood that a synthetic CDO transaction necessarily included both a long and short side.

3) ACA, the Largest Investor, Selected The Portfolio.

The portfolio of mortgage backed securities in this investment was selected by an independent and experienced portfolio selection agent after a series of discussions, including with Paulson & Co., which were entirely typical of these types of transactions.

ACA had the largest exposure to the transaction, investing $951 million.

It had an obligation and every incentive to select appropriate securities.

4) Goldman Sachs Never Represented to ACA That Paulson Was Going To Be A Long Investor.

The SEC’s complaint accuses the firm of fraud because it didn’t disclose to one party of the transaction who was on the other side of that transaction.

As normal business practice, market makers do not disclose the identities of a buyer to a seller and vice versa.

Goldman Sachs never represented to ACA that Paulson was going to be a long investor.BackgroundIn 2006, Paulson & Co. indicated its interest in positioning itself for adecline in housing prices.

The firm structured a synthetic CDO through whichPaulson benefitted from a decline in the value of the underlying securities.

Those on the other side of the transaction, IKB and ACA Capital Management,the portfolio selection agent, would benefit from an increase in the value ofthe securities.

ACA had a long established track record as a CDO manager, having 26 separate transactions before the transaction.

Goldman Sachs retaineda significant residual long risk position in the transaction IKB, ACA and Paulson all provided their input regarding the composition of theunderlying securities.

ACA ultimately and independently approved the selectionof 90 Residential Mortgage Backed Securities, which it stood behind as theportfolio selection agent and the largest investor in the transaction.

The offering documents for the transaction included every underlying mortgagesecurity.

The offering documents for each of these RMBS in turn disclosed thevarious categories of information required by the SEC, including detailed information concerning the mortgages held by the trust that issued the RMBS.

Any investor losses result from the overall negative performance of the entiresector, not because of which particular securities ended in the referenceportfolio or how they were selected.

The transaction was not created as a way for Goldman Sachs to short thesubprime market.

To the contrary, Goldman Sachs’s substantial long positioning the transaction lost money for the firm.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking,securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range offinancial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includescorporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worthindividuals.

Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other majorfinancial centers around the world.

Contact:The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.Media:Lucas van Praag, 212-902-5400 or Investor: Dane Holmes, 212-902-030”