Goldman set to settle SEC fraud case soon: report

Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, delivers testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Investigations Subcommittee hearing on ''Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: The Role of Investment Banks'' on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 27, 2010.

Goldman Sachs may soon settle its fraud case with the U.S. regulator, the New York Post reported on Thursday, opting to end a legal fight rather than endure a repeat of the public flogging it received this week.

The Post report, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Wall Street's top investment bank was mulling closing the fraud case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to limit damage to its reputation.

"It's almost a certainty that there will be a settlement," the paper quoted a source as saying.

Goldman Sachs heads deny wrongdoing-Selling securities and then betting on their demise at the same time.

Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein gestures during his testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Investigations Subcommittee hearing on ''Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: The Role of Investment Banks'' on Capitol Hill in Washington April 27, 2010.

Senator Carl Levin sparred with Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein over whether the investment bank was conflicted when it sold securities to clients and then shorted them.

Blankfein seemed puzzled by the line of questioning at a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing. Levin seemed frustrated that Blankfein did not acknowledge that a firm may be conflicted if it is selling securities and betting on their demise at the same time.

Below is an abridged transcript of part of their sparring at the hearing: