We've been one of the many outlets predicting that Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) would eventually settle with the SEC (SEC news) over charges it defrauded investors in a single synthetic CDO (CDO news) deal. The rumor really cranked up in the last day or two, with some media accounts all but reporting a deal.

But Fox Business News adds some color to the issue. It suggests there's no way Goldman Sachs could risk a trial "because federal laws governing pension funds will all but force the firm to get out of the money-management business" if it loses. The issue is how to orchestrate all this.

Fox predicts this sequence: Goldman Sachs will proceed, filing an answer to the charges and beginning the discovery process to see what evidence the SEC has. At that point, the negotiations will likely begin. "Goldman will agree to a fine and seek to get the civil-fraud charge removed from the case, agreeing that its actions and the actions of Fabrice Tourre, the young trader who sold the investments, was instead 'negligent.'" So perhaps Tourre will be thrown under the bus after all. 

For more:
- here's the article

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