Yamamoto Incorporated - US investment bank, Goldman Sachs has agreed to settle with the US Department of Justice’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force over its part in the mis-selling of residential mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis of 2008

The task force has investigated how banks and other financial institutions represented the risk attached to the sales of structured debt products before the crisis which claimed the scalps of several financial institutions and caused the great recession of 2008.

“Goldman Sachs is just one of several banks that marketed residential mortgage-backed securities as safe investments despite having included subprime mortgage loans when packaging the products for sale to investors,” explained a Yamamoto Incorporated researcher strategist.

The $5.1 billion deal will settle civil claims from the Justice Department, the New York and Illinois Attorneys General, the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago and Seattle all of whom accused the Wall Street investment bank of sharp practice.

Banks from the US to Europe have been pursued over unfair and illegal practices since the financial crisis with banks like Germany’s Deutsche being fined billions of euros over its role in the manipulation of LIBOR and the forex markets.

“$5.1 billion sounds like a lot of money and, to be fair, it is but to a bank as profitable as Goldman Sachs, it’s the proverbial drop in the ocean. They’ve already told markets that the settlement will impact upon their Q4 2015 earnings and they effectively get to walk away,” concluded the Yamamoto Incorporated strategist.