Goldman Sachs slapped with £20m FSA fine

Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay a fine of £20m to the FSA after failing to disclose trader Fabrice Tourre was under fraud investigation by the US Securities & Exchange Commission.

Tourre is the trader accused of fraud by the SEC over his role in the creation and sale of the Abacus CDO, which was shorted by hedge fund Paulson & Co.

Goldman agreed in July to pay $550m to settle the SEC civil charges, but did not admit any wrongdoing.

However, the investment bank is expected to say it made an error in not informing the UK regulator Tourre was under SEC scrutiny at the time he moved to the investment bank's London offices from New York in 2008.

The Goldman fine would be one of the largest ever by the FSA, which slapped a £33.3m penalty against a J.P.Morgan last year.