Pressure on Goldman Sachs mounted yesterday as UK prime minister Gordon Brown attacked the “moral bankruptcy” revealed by the Securities and Exchange Commission's fraud charges, while the gulf between the bank and the regulator widened with revelations that the two sides never discussed a settlement.

　　在美国证交会(SEC)对高盛(Goldman Sachs)提出欺诈指控后，英国首相戈登•布朗(Gordon Brown)昨日抨击这一指控所揭示的情况为“道德沦丧”，此举让高盛面临更大的压力。与此同时，高盛与美国证交会之间的巨大分歧正在扩大——据披露，双方从未讨论过就此案达成和解。

　　The lack of settlement talks in the nine months since the SEC formally told Goldman it wanted to press charges is unusual and underlines the hard line taken by both the authorities and the bank in this case.

　　美国证交会是在九个月前正式通知高盛将对其提出指控的。自那时起，双方从未就和解展开过任何讨论。这一不同寻常的事实突显出，监管当局和该投行均在此案上采取了强硬立场。

　　The SEC filed civil charges against Goldman and one of its vice-presidents on Friday, accusing them of failing to disclose that in 2007 Paulson & Co, a hedge fund, had a major role in structuring a mortgage-backed collaterised debt obligation so that it could bet against it.

　　上周五，美国证交会提交了对高盛及其一位副总裁的民事诉讼，指控他们没有披露对冲基金保尔森公司(Paulson & Co) 2007年曾在构建一种抵押贷款支持的债务抵押债券(CDO)中扮演重要角色——保尔森公司由此能够做空该CDO。

　　Goldman has denied the charges and vowed to defend itself “vigorously”.

　　高盛否认了上述指控，并誓言将“有力”抗辩。

　　Yesterday, as Goldman executives said the position of Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive, was not threatened, London and Berlin said they would consider action. Mr Brown told the BBC he was “shocked at this moral bankruptcy. This is probably one of the worst cases . . . we have seen.”

　　高盛的高管昨日表示，其首席执行官劳埃德•布兰克费恩(Lloyd Blankfein)的地位没有受到威胁。与此同时，英国和德国政府表示，它们将考虑对高盛采取行动。布朗告诉英国广播公司(BBC)，他对“这一道德沦丧感到震惊。这可能是我们所见过的最恶劣的案件之一。”

　　The German government said it would consider legal steps against Goldman. IKB, a German bank that was one of the first casualties of the global crisis in 2007, was one of three investors in the CDO and lost about $150m when it collapsed as the US housing bubble burst.

　　德国政府表示，将考虑对高盛采取法律行动。作为2007年全球危机的首批受害者，德国产业投资银行(IKB)曾是投资上述CDO的三家投资者之一。随着美国住房泡沫的破灭，IKB在此项投资上亏损约1.5亿美元并陷入破产。

　　Goldman declined to comment on the position of Mr Blankfein – not mentioned in the SEC's complaint – but insiders said it was not in danger. Goldman executives and investors will be closely watching how the shares perform today after they fell more than 12 per cent on Friday. Goldman's first-quarter results, out tomorrow, will also be a focal point.

　　高盛拒绝对布兰克费恩的地位置评——美国证交会的申诉书中未提及布兰克费恩——但局内人士表示，布兰克费恩的地位没有受到威胁。高盛的高管和投资者将密切关注今日高盛股价的表现。上周五，高盛的股价下跌了逾12%。高盛今年首季度的财报定于明日发布，这也将成为外界关注的焦点。

　　The bank's executives said they were “stunned” by the SEC's decision to file charges against the bank and Fabrice Tourre, a 31-year-old vice-president, without prior warning.

　　高盛的高管表示，他们对美国证交会未做事先警告就决定对该行及其现年31岁的副总裁法布里•托雷(Fabrice Tourre)提出指控感到“震惊”。

　　The SEC declined to comment.

　　美国证交会拒绝置评。

　　People close to the situation said Goldman received notification of the SEC's intention to press charges in July. Goldman did not disclose this to investors – allowable if the information is not deemed price-sensitive.

　　知情人士表示，高盛去年7月就收到了美国证交会欲对其提出指控的通知。高盛并未向投资者披露此事——如果这一通知不被视为股价敏感信息，那么这样做是允许的。

　　The SEC often settles cases to avoid lengthy court battles.

　　为避免旷日持久的诉讼战，美国证交会往往寻求在此类案件上达成和解。

　　In February, the Financial Times revealed that the SEC last year had sent subpoenas to banks including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman, Morgan Stanley and UBS, seeking information about the marketing of CDOs.

　　英国《金融时报》今年2月透露，为搜集有关CDO销售的信息，美国证交会去年曾传唤过多家银行，其中包括美国银行-美林(Bank of America Merrill Lynch)、巴克莱(Barclays)、花旗集团(Citigroup)、瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)、德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)、高盛、摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)和瑞银(UBS)。