Investors were sophisticated and knew the risks of betting on the housing market through so-called synthetic collateralized debt obligations defence attorney John Keker told the nine jurors.
'The synthetic CDO market is high-stakes, high-level gambling', Keker said. 'However you feel about gambling ... this was legal gambling'.
The news agency also reports that Goldman Sachs is building an in-house private bank to serve wealthy customers around the world as part of a cautious strategy to reshape its business, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The banking push, which has not been previously disclosed, will give Goldman more deposits, a source of low-cost funding less vulnerable to the vagaries of financial markets.
Finally, Reuters reports a former brokerage client has sued JPMorgan Chase for allegedly steering him and other investors to overpriced, underperforming funds to boost the bank's fees and profits.
JPMorgan falsely represented its financial advisers were operating under fiduciary duty to clients, while its bonuses encouraged the sale of proprietary funds, according to the lawsuit, which seeks class action status.
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