Goldman Sachs CEO Describes 'Secret Meetings' at Insider Trading Trial

Blankfein, Lloyd CEO Goldman Sachs

NEW YORK — The CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, told a New York federal court that his former colleague Rajat Gupta regularly attended highly confidential board meetings.

The chief executive took the stand for the second time in as many years to testify about Gupta, accused in one of the highest profile insider trading cases for years.

Talks at board and committee meetings on which Gupta sat -- before allegedly passing insider tips to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam -- were not for public consumption, Blankfein said.

"You're not supposed to discuss," he said.

Referring to a 2008 strategy meeting held by the powerful US bank in Saint Petersburg, Russia, he said: "The fact it was in the board meeting meant it was confidential."

Blankfein is one of the biggest witnesses prosecutors are using against Gupta, an Indian-born immigrant who reached the pinnacle of US business. The former Goldman board member was also on the board of Procter & Gamble and the director of McKinsey & Co.   READ MORE