President Obama: SEC gave 'no heads-up' on Goldman

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36693944/ns/business-us_business/

President Barack Obama Wednesday said "categorically" that the Securities and Exchange Commission never discussed fraud charges against Goldman Sachs with the White House in advance.

"The SEC is an an entirely independent agency that we have no day-to-day control over," Obama said in an interview with CNBC. "And they never discussed with us anything with respect to the charges that will be brought."

He said there were "no winks, no heads-up in advance, no signal from anyone."

(snip)
Obama, who is traveling to New York Thursday for a speech on financial reform, stressed that stronger regulations are needed in the wake of the industry’s near-collapse in 2008, and he said he had made his position clear during his election campaign that year.

“Nobody should be surprised in the position that I'm taking now, because it's one that I was very clear about during the course of the campaign,” he said.

Unfortunately, there are reports they DID give Goldman Sachs a 9 month warning.

that we're coming to get you?

Goldman Had 9 Months' Warning From SEC--Report
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100417-701050.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-had-9-months-warning-from-sec-report-2010-04-17

Goldman Sachs Said to Have Been Warned of SEC Suit
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which fell 13 percent yesterday after U.S. regulators announced fraud accusations, didn’t disclose that it was warned nine months ago that investigators wanted to bring a case, people with direct knowledge of the talks said.

Goldman Sachs responded to the so-called Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission within months and met with the agency officials trying to fend off the civil lawsuit, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks weren’t public. In March, the New York-based firm said it was cooperating with regulators’ “requests for information.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a52BBUru4.hM