Complex financial structured products were at the heart of the
capital markets and key to many investment banks' and financial
firms' profit streams while financial times were good. However,
these very same structures are seen by many as also having been at
the epicentre of the financial crisis that followed. In the
post-crisis world, banks, financial firms, their clients, their
counterparties and regulators have found themselves facing some
highly novel and complex challenges when trying to assess, for
example, whether there are valid claims for losses incurred,
particularly in light of the highly volatile markets at the time of
the collapse.
At a time when many banks and investors were just starting to
assess their post-crisis position, the SEC's recent
announcement that it is investigating allegations of fraud and
mis-selling regarding Goldman Sachs' packaging of subprime
mortgages into synthetic collateralised debt obligations (CDOs)
will have once again caused
