In comments at the Peterson Foundation fiscal summit being held today in Washington, former president Bill Clinton told an audience that the timing of the SEC lawsuit against Goldman Sachs was “suspect” and that he is “not at all sure” that Goldman violated the law in the ABACUS deal that forms the center of the SEC case.
Clinton also said that synthetic CDOs like ABACUS have “no underlying merit” and came out in favor of transparency requirements and clearinghouses for the derivatives market.