Goldman Sachs Group, seeking to reduce assets tied to the declining US housing market, urged its sales force in 2006 and 2007 to sell those products to clients, newly disclosed internal e-mails show.

The e-mails, including communications from chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein, show that employees discussed how to “arm” salespeople to shed bonds the firm found too risky to hold. The e-mails were released yesterday by Senator Carl Levin in connection with a hearing where current and former managers testified about the firm’s role in the financial crisis.

Levin, the Michigan Democrat who heads the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, grilled the executives about the firm’s bets against the housing market and its disclosure to clients.

bloomberg.com