SEC vs. Goldman: The Words Heard Today on the Street

"We were somewhat surprised that this was filed as a complaint and no one told us in advance."
—David A. Viniar, Goldman Sachs CFO, commenting on the SEC's accusations while on a conference call announcing Goldman's first quarter earnings of $3.5 billion

"They couldn't have done the deal without the rating."
—JackChen, a former Moody's analyst, commenting on the Abacus deal in question that received Moody's and S&P's highest ratings and that, according to the WSJ, was "one of the worst-performing mortgage deals of the housing crisis"

"The SEC picked a fight with the biggest kid on the block. That may be part of the message the commission wanted to send. It may help re-establish their reputation."
—Peter Henning, a former SEC attorney who teaches at Wayne State University Law School

"[Goldman] should now be suspended in its role as one of the advisers to the government until these allegations are properly looked into."
—Nick Clegg, U.K. Liberal Democrat leader

"I don't think you can stop doing business with a firm because an individual is accused of doing something."
— Alistair Darling, U.K. Treasury chief

"You have to ask yourself a question: who benefits if this bill to rein in Wall Street or large financial institutions is strangled by a filibuster? Certainly no one can make the case that the American family would benefit. These families have seen millions of jobs lost, trillions in savings wiped out because of the greedy few on Wall Street who gambled with money that didn’t even belong to them."
—Christopher J. Dodd, Democratic Senator from Connecticut