Jeff Merkley: “I wish to address a particular point, which is limiting the ability of high-risk investments to blow up our economy. My…”

“I wish to address a particular point, which is limiting the ability of high-risk investments to blow up our economy. My colleague and friend, Senator Levin, did a monumental service to this institution today by holding a hearing with the executives of the large investment firm Goldman Sachs, discussing practices that misled clients and bundled huge risks into our financial system. The SEC currently has an investigation underway. The courts will determine the merit of that case. But today I want to address what the SEC could not charge Goldman Sachs with: they could not charge them with the clear conflict of interest for holding a financial stake in a position completely opposite to the very security that they themselves put together and were selling to their clients.”