It's customary for regulators and prosecutors to inform their targets when charges are to be filled. In criminal cases, they often give the target a chance to turn himself or herself in. But in the case of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and the SEC (SEC news), this did not hold.

FOX Business News reports that Goldman Sachs executives were basically blindsided. One executive told the network that executives "believed that if this case was to be filed, it wouldn't happen for a number of weeks. People at Goldman are mad as hell and they will fight this to the end." So why did the SEC file and publicize the charges in this manner? Business Insider suggests that one reason was the SEC wanted to dominate media coverage and force some negative news into oblivion. 

And what news might that be? The news that the SEC had hints of wrong-doing regarding Allen Stanford (Allen Stanford news) but ended up taking more than a decade to pursue him seriously. That's Bernard Madoff-esque (Bernard Madoff news) to be sure. 

For more:
- here's the FOX article
- here's the Business Insider article

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