Sen. Levin says there was a conflict of interest at Goldman

An investigation by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) into the investment activities at Goldman Sachs concluded there was a conflict of interest at the bank. 

"The bottom line is, what we discovered in this investigation... is that there is a conflict of interest too often between what's in Goldman's interest, what's good for their bottom line, and what is in its clients' interests," Levin said. "These are deeply troubling findings."

Levin chairs the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and took a prolonged look at trades by Goldman that dealt with a specific type of mortgage-backed security. He discovered that the bank sold these securities to investors while earning billions by betting the very same investments would eventually fail. 

"I think most members of the committee, maybe all of us -- say to ourselves, that kind of a conflict of interest has got to be stopped," he said, adding, "They [Goldman] make a bet against the very instrument that they put together to sell to their customers. That, to me, is incredible."

Levin called on Republicans to allow a debate on financial reform legislation so he could address the problem discovered at Goldman.