Report: Grasso trial expected next week

NEW YORK, May 20 (UPI) -- Lawsuits against former New York Stock Exchange head Richard Grasso are expected to start next week, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

The daily said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is likely to target not only Grasso, but also some of the NYSE's directors who approved his $187 million retirement package. Grasso had to resign over his excessive pay package from the exchange late last year.

If the lawsuits are served, they will likely be closely monitored by Wall Street investors. So far, Spitzer's officer has attacked prominent investors including Goldman Sachs' chief executive Henry Paulson and former Merrill Lynch chief David Komansky.