Goldmans issued with subpoena for failing to work with US govt

Goldman Sachs has been issued with a subpoena after being accused of failing to work with the US government's Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC).

The FCIC said Goldmans 'deliberately and disruptively' refused to work with it, after failing to provide documents and people for interviews in a timely manner.

According to the Daily Telegraph, it is said to have taken part in 'mischief-making' after handing in 20 million separate documents in response to demands for information. The FCIC could not possibly cope with that amount of information given it has a staff of 50 and an end of year investigation deadline.

Phil Angelides, chairman of the FCIC - which has given the task of finding the root causes of the financial crisis by the US Congress in an effort to prevent it happening again - said Goldmans was deliberately trying to drag out the proceedings in order to avoid punishment.

Angelides said yesterday that the bank is involved in 'a very deliberate effort to run out the clock'.

Goldmans has denied the allegations. A spokeswoman said: 'We have been and continue to be committed to providing the FCIC with the information they have requested.'

The accusations from the FCIC come after the group was accused of committing civil fraud by selling Abacus - a mortgage-backed security - to investors without telling them hedge fund Paulson & Co was shorting the instrument. It is also accused of failing to reveal it allowed Paulson to select many of the securities held in Abacus.

At the end of May Goldman was reportedly in talks with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to avoid a charge of fraud over the Abacus scandal, and settle for a less serious charge of mis-stating or omitting information given to investors.