Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank and the SEC is investigating the role of Goldman Sachs and a few other banks in helping Greece raise off-balance sheet sum so as to conceal debt, thereby, enabling it to join the European Union.

The $1 billion that was raised through swaps in 2002 came to light, after it came to the notice of European Union regulators, recently.

"Obviously, using these instruments in a way that intentionally destabilizes a company or a country is counterproductive, and I'm sure the SEC will be looking into that," Bernanke said in a testimony before the Senate banking committee. Bernanke said that the authorities would use new rules to gather information on financial system risks and examine what Democrat Christopher Dodd referred to as a "run against government."

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs said it did nothing inappropriate as swaps were inconformity with the existing rules and had consulted EU officials at that time. Executive Gerald Corrigan of Goldman Sachs said the swaps which helped Greece reduced it debt by about $3.2 billion and "produce a rather small, but nevertheless not insignificant reduction, in Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio."