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Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, one of Capitol Hill's most feared panels, has a history with Goldman Sachs.

He clashed publicly with its Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein a year ago at a hearing on the crisis.

The Democratic lawmaker again tore into Goldman at a press briefing on his panel's 639-page report, which is based on a review of tens of millions of documents over two years.

Levin accused Goldman of profiting at clients' expense as the mortgage market crashed in 2007. "In my judgment, Goldman clearly misled their clients and they misled Congress," he said, reading glasses perched as ever on the tip of his nose.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman said, "While we disagree with many of the conclusions of the report, we take seriously the issues explored by the subcommittee."

The panel's report is harder hitting than one issued in January by the government-appointed Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which "didn't report anything of significance," Republican Senator Tom Coburn said at the briefing.

More than two years since the crisis peaked, denunciations of Wall Street misconduct are less often heard on Capitol Hill, with lawmakers focused on fiscal issues. But Coburn joined Levin at Wednesday's bipartisan briefing, firing his own sharp attacks on the financial industry.

"Blame for this mess lies everywhere -- from federal regulators who cast a blind eye, Wall Street bankers who let greed run wild, and members of Congress who failed to provide oversight," said Coburn, the subcommittee's top Republican.

"It shows without a doubt the lack of ethics in some of our financial institutions who embraced known conflicts of interest to accomplish wealth for themselves, not caring about the outcome for their customers," he said.

The Levin-Coburn report criticized not only Goldman, but Deutsche Bank, the former Washington Mutual Bank, the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision and credit rating agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's.

"We will be referring this matter to the Justice Department and to the SEC," Levin said at the briefing, though he did not elaborate. A spokesman later said, "The subcommittee does not intend to reveal the specifics of any referral."

The report offered 19 recommendations for reform going beyond changes already enacted after the crisis in 2010's Dodd-Frank Wall Street and banking regulation overhaul.

Case studies from the go-go years of the real estate bubble formed the bulk of the report, which said a runaway mortgage securitization machine churned out abusive loans, toxic securities, and big fees for lenders and Wall Street.

It cited internal emails by Wall Street executives that described mortgage-backed securities underlying many collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, as "crap" and "pigs."

NYSE could give its own shareholders a special dividend at the time the Deutsche Boerse deal closes, sources said.

Other options include NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse together buying back shares or paying a dividend after the deal is completed, one of the sources said.

The idea is to win shareholder support for the NYSE Euronext-Deutsche Boerse combination over a higher but unsolicited offer for NYSE Euronext by Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ.O) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc (ICE.N).

While NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse currently pay dividends, Nasdaq and ICE do not.

Rating agencies have raised concerns about Nasdaq's debt levels. Moody's Investors Service said earlier this month the bid made it more likely to cut Nasdaq's debt ratings to junk over the medium term, while Standard & Poor's said it might cut the exchange's ratings to junk in the near term.

Two junk ratings could create a headache for the combined exchange because NYSE bondholders would have the right to force the company to buy back their $2.1 billion of debt. Nasdaq could be forced to raise even more money.

Still, Nasdaq Chief Executive Robert Greifeld has said that it would consider dividends as a way to return capital to shareholders if its bid for NYSE Euronext was successful.

NYSE, Nasdaq, and Deutsche Boerse declined to comment. The sources requested anonymity because the talks are not public.

SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS

Executives from all four exchange operators have met with shareholders to press their cases in the last few days.

The options being considered by NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse are in part based on those meetings, one of the sources said.

Further highlighting their desire to fend off an unsolicited bid, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse have also identified additional cost savings from their planned combination, one of the sources said.

Nasdaq and ICE bid $11.3 billion to buy and divide the centuries-old NYSE between them. The offer was a 12 percent premium to Deutsche Boerse's acquisition plan, unveiled in February.

NYSE's board dismissed the counteroffer on Sunday as too risky and contrary to the company's strategy, though NYSE shareholders will likely have to decide between the competing offers.

Crude oil priced edged up after falling about 3 percent overnight, as the market focus shifted to supply concerns in Libya and upcoming U.S. demand. U.S. stock futures steadily gained in Asia, suggesting the sudden shakeout in bets on equities and higher-yielding currencies may have run its course.

The pullback in commodity prices had made investors cut exposure to risky assets such as emerging market stocks and currencies that have had steep gains recently such as the Australian dollar.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.8 percent in choppy trade, with technology-related shares leading the way higher.

Tokyo's Nikkei .N225 finished up 0.9 percent, with shares of Tokyo Electric (9501.T) surging on heavy volume on a report that its liabilities stemming from Japan's nuclear crisis may be capped. Other utilities stocks slid since they may have to help foot the bill. .T

U.S. stock futures rose 0.4 percent after falling for four consecutive sessions, suggesting a higher open on Wall Street.

The yen slipped more than 0.6 percent against the dollar and euro as some analysts said its gains this week were because of stretched positioning and may be an opportunity for investors to re-enter or extend their short positions. <FRX/>

"I think the markets at the moment are just pausing to take a bit of profit and assess things in the yen crosses," said David Forrester, FX strategist at Barclays Capital in Singapore.

"We have to remember that over the past two weeks we have had a big rush into yen-funded carry trades," Forrester said.

Brent crude for May, which expires on Thursday, rose 0.8 percent to $121.78 a barrel. U.S. May crude added 0.4 percent to $106.68.

Gold bounced higher on Wednesday after posting its biggest fall in a month in the previous session. Declines in bullion and silver ETF holdings suggest investors are nervous following a second bearish forecast from commodity bull Goldman Sachs.

Spot gold added more than $3 to $1,458.31 an ounce after falling as low as $1,443.49 an ounce on Tuesday. Gold hit a record around $1,476 an ounce on Monday on the prospect of more declines in the dollar.

The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD.P), said its holdings slipped to 1,216.299 metric tons by April 12 from 1,217.209 metric tons on April 7.

U.S. Treasuries dipped as Asian investors took advantage of their hefty gains overnight to offload some of their holdings, but market players say prices could climb further if U.S. retail sales data due later in the day shows inflation is crimping consumer spending.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in SYDNEY, Masayuki Kitano in SINGAPORE and Ayai Tomisawa in TOKYO.; Editing by Richard Borsuk and Robert Birsel)