Goldman Sachs, which emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis, was accused of securities fraud in a civil suit filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which claims the bank created and sold a mortgage investment that was secretly devised to fail.<\/p>\n
The move marks the first time that regulators have taken action against a Wall Street deal that helped investors capitalize on the collapse of the housing market. Goldman itself profited by betting against the very mortgage investments that it sold to its customers.<\/p>\n
The suit also named Fabrice Tourre, a vice president at Goldman who helped create and sell the investment.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Goldman called the S.E.C. accusations \u201ccompletely unfounded in law and fact\u201d\u009d and said the firm would \u201cvigorously contest them and defend the firm and its reputation.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n