‪Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (MA-9) today requested that the Oversight and Government Reform Committee conduct hearings on the role of Goldman Sachs & Co. in the creation of structured financial products including the marketing and trading of collateralized debt obligations and how those deals contributed to the financial crisis.

‪“With the recent fraud charges filed against Goldman Sachs, and the issues raised in the Senate hearings, it is important that the Oversight Committee examine how these complex financial products were created, marketed and traded by Goldman Sachs,” Congressman Stephen F. Lynch said.

‪In a letter to Chairman Ed Towns sent earlier today, Congressman Lynch was joined by nine of his colleagues on the Oversight Committee, including five subcommittee chairmen. Co-signing were Representatives Elijah Cummings, Dennis Kucinich, John Tierney, Wm. Lacy Clay, Jackie Speier, Ed Perlmutter, Gerald Connolly and Marcy Kaptur.

Attached is the text of the letter.

April 29, 2010

Chairman Edolphus Towns
Committee on Government Reform
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-6143

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Following recent developments related to the conduct of certain persons currently or formerly employed by Goldman Sachs & Co., we are writing to respectfully request that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conduct a hearing or series of hearings to examine the role of Goldman Sachs & Co. and others in the securitization of mortgage products and the development, underwriting, marketing, and trading of financial products including collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).

As you know, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced charges filed against Goldman, Sachs & Co. and one of its vice presidents for defrauding investors in connection with a financial product tied to subprime mortgages. We believe this case raises important questions that are central to the recent housing crisis and the spread of the financial crisis globally.

During the 111th Congress, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has held important hearings examining the causes and consequences of the recent financial crisis. We believe that we as members have a paramount duty to fulfill our congressional oversight responsibility in this matter.

Notably, due to the complex nature of these issues, we also respectfully request that the allotted time given to each member for questioning be increased to 10 minutes.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. Should you or your staff have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff, Cara Camacho or Bruce Fernandez, at 202.225.8273.

Sincerely,