The co-general counsel of Goldman Sachs has strongly defended his company, telling investors that the suit against the Wall Street giant took him by surprise, reports The Am Law Daily.

Speaking in a conference call on Goldman's first quarter earnings report, Gregory Palm said his legal department spent the past 18 months talking and providing records to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but that the agency did not notify the company that it was filing suit last Friday (16 April).

Palm said Goldman was "disappointed" by the charge, and defended the investment bank's integrity and business principles. The record shows the charge was unfounded, he said, adding that "we dispute the respective view of the facts in this case and the applicable law."

In the civil suit filed last week, the SEC charged Goldman and one of its vice presidents with defrauding investors. The complaint alleges that the company mis-stated and omitted key facts about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages, as the US housing bubble was beginning to burst in 2007.

The SEC said the company marketed a complex collateralised debt obligation (CDO) to investors without telling them that hedge fund Paulson & Co, that was betting against the mortgage market, had played a key role in selecting the portfolio.

While investors lost about $1bn (£650m) on the CDO, Paulson earned about $1bn by betting against it, the complaint states.

Palm has been GC at Goldman – a position he now shares with Esta Stecher – since 1992 when he joined the bank from US law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

During Tuesday's call, Palm repeatedly argued that the deal mainly involved two sophisticated institutional investors who jointly selected the portfolio. Both had the opportunity to fully examine the underlying assets, he said.

During a question and answer period, some investors asked about whether the major loser in the deal knew that Paulson was taking the short position. Palm replied that while Goldman brought the investors together, the company did not know what the losing party was thinking.

He apparently evaded a direct question about whether Goldman told the other party of Paulson's short interest by saying that the SEC complaint did not allege any incident where Goldman intentionally misled anyone.

In other answers, Palm said the SEC has looked generally at Goldman's mortgage deals but would not say if any other deals are under investigation at this time. He did say that there have been no conversations with the Department of Justice.

He said the company lost $100m (£65m) on its own investments in the deal. Asked why Goldman even invested, he indicated the deal was not closing until Goldman agreed to take a slice.

The Am Law Daily is the website of The American Lawyer, Legal Week's US sister title.