Tourre testifying on Goldman fraud
A Senate hearing will focus on the role of Fabrice Tourre in the fraud charges against investment bank Goldman Sachs. Tourre's testimony will have a major impact on the outcome of the case. Jeremy Hobson reports.
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Bill Radke: Also taking center stage — can their be two center stages? — a big deal in Washington this morning is the fraud charges against investment bank Goldman Sachs. We will get our first look at the trader at the center of those charges; Fabrice Tourre will testify before a Senate subcommittee, and here’s Marketplace’s Jeremy Hobson has more.
Jeremy Hobson: Fabrice Tourre referred to himself as Fabulous Fab, perhaps because he was one of the early predictors of the subprime mortgage meltdown and he turned it into a boon for Goldman Sachs and some of its clients.
Greg Zuckerman: Toure was a star, and he was an up-and-comer, but he was 29 and he wasn’t the most senior executive.
That’s Greg Zuckerman, the author of The Greatest Trade Ever, a book about the hedge fund on the other side of Goldman’s alleged fraud. Zuckerman says Tourre may be the latest scapegoat, but he wasn’t the only one at the bank involved in deals that don’t look too kosher in hindsight.
Zuckerman: That was known within the firm all the way up the chain, so he’s not the only person with knowledge within the firm. But the accusation is that he was the one with the most responsibility.
Zuckerman says Toure’s testimony today is crucial. That is if he can get a word in edgewise in a room full of angry senators.
In New York, I’m Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.