U.S. Supreme Court tosses class action ruling against Goldman Sachs

June 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to Goldman Sachs Group Inc in its bid to avoid an investor class action lawsuit accusing the bank of hiding conflicts of interest when creating risky subprime securities before the 2008 financial crisis.

The justices threw out a decision by the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year that had allowed Goldman shareholders including the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System to sue as a group under a federal investor protection law. The plaintiffs accused the company of unlawfully hiding conflicts of interest when creating risky subprime securities.

In directing the 2nd Circuit to reconsider the matter, the justices said the lower court had failed to properly assess whether the bank's statements that the investors had called misleading were too generic to have affected its stock price. The ruling gives Goldman another chance to avoid the class action in which the plaintiffs said they lost more than $13 billion due to the bank's conduct. (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)