Web Special: The SEC lawsuit against Goldman Sachs and accountability on Wall Street

(extended version)

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Goldman Sachs accusing the financial firm of deliberately misleading investors in a hedge fund that was allegedly designed to fail. The civil suit states the company helped to set up an investment composed of packages of toxic subprime loans for client and hedge fund manager, John Paulson. Investors lost $1 billion in the scheme. Paulson and his company are not named in the lawsuit.

This is the first time the government has taken legal action against a Wall Street giant since the collapse of the housing market.

Shannon Young spoke with Nomi Prins, former investment banker and author of the book It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bonuses, Bailouts, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street for more on the substance of the lawsuit and its implications.