fro example... Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executives sparred with lawmakers over accusations that its aluminum business improperly influenced prices and that the firm’s traders had unfair access to market-moving data.

Under fire at a hearing today on whether Wall Street’s ownership of commodities spurs conflicts, Goldman Sachs’s Jacques Gabillon disputed senators’ charges that long wait times for aluminum stockpiles had a direct effect on what companies and consumers pay for the metal. Only a handful of Goldman Sachs employees get information on the aluminum unit and reports are limited to financial performance, he said.

“When everything is said and done, you can say there is no correlation” between wait times and price, said Gabillon, head of the New York-based bank’s global commodities principal investments group.

His statements were met with skepticism from a Senate panel that released a 400-page report yesterday alleging that commodities businesses give banks undue influence over markets, spur trading advantages and could endanger the financial system through an industrial catastrophe.


[link to www.bloomberg.com]