Having worked for a Big Four firm in an exceedingly junior role, it&#x27;s quite clear how this happened, and how it could happen anywhere. These big firms attach their names to work done by very junior people. The companies have a lot of experience at what they do, so their processes tend to be okay at producing an acceptable end result, but so much of their work is done by utterly clueless junior folks, that it&#x27;s amazing things don&#x27;t go sideways more often. Then again, an accounting opinion is just that -- an <i>opinion</i>. In the end, the liability tends to be very limited.<p>To use a legal word I don&#x27;t fully understand, it seems Goldman was completely negligent here, but not necessarily in a criminal way -- if that&#x27;s possible. They had a client that needed a lot of hand-holding, but it was small potatoes to a big bank, and they utterly failed to serve their client&#x27;s interests.<p>Of course, because they&#x27;re the big fish, they&#x27;ve probably covered their asses pretty well in a legal sense, and won&#x27;t owe a dime. It&#x27;s not right, but it&#x27;s probably what will happen, legally.