Don’t think you’re out of trouble yet, FSA tells Goldman

The UK financial regulator announced today that it has fined Goldman Sachs £17.5 million ($27 million) over the Abacus 2007-AC1 synthetic CDO. The Financial Services Authority said the fine was for failing to comply with UK regulatory reporting requirements and failing to keep the FSA notified about the SEC’s investigation into the matter.

The FSA points out in its announcement that Goldman marketed the controversial ABS-referenced deal partly through its UK-regulated entity, even though the transaction was structured in the US.

The UK body implies that it first learnt of the SEC investigation into the Abacus deal through the press. “No one at GSC [US-based Goldman Sachs & Co] or GSI [UK-based Goldman Sachs International] considered the potential regulatory implications of the SEC investigation for GSI,” it complains.