Also reportedly under investigation are Blackstone and Credit Suisse.
The devastating civil war that has ravaged Libya has undoubtedly altered the power structure of the North African nation. It also revealed that major U.S. and European financial firms, including Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale, actively courted executives of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), which, flush with $60 billion of the nation’s oil profits, paid rich fees to invest with Western banks and funds, in some cases losing their whole investment. Now, the LIA is suing Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale in London, while the SEC and the U.S. Justice Department are also scrutinizing the practices of hedge fund Och-Ziff and private equity firm Blackstone.
In 2004, the U.S. lifted commercial sanctions on Libya after Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi agreed to hand over his chemical weapons. Major U.S. and European names flocked to the oil producing nation for a cut of the potential profits as the reins on global capitalism were loosened. Established in 2006, Libya’s sovereign wealth fund was approached by at least 25 different financial institutions looking to attract its funds, ultimately forging relationships with Goldman Sachs, Societe Generale, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase , the Carlyle Group, Lehman Brothers, and Och-Ziff Capital Management.
[…]
