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Goldman Sachs made $100m on 131 days of 2009

March 3rd, 2010

Before You Invest

Goldman Sachs made at least $100 million on 131 days in 2009 – equivalent to once every two days.

The figure was revealed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, in a filing that showed the bank made the profits by taking larger risks than it did in 2008.

Its daily ‘value at risk’ figure – the amount Goldman Sachs estimated it could lose in a day’s trading – stood at $218 million, up from $180 million the previous year.

However, the bank only lost money on 19 occasions in 2009, with the figure never exceeding more than $100 million.

David Hendler, an analyst with CreditSights, told the Financial Times that the figures were not surprising.

“It’s impressive, but it’s not unexpected,” he said. “They were one of the few games in town in 2009.”

Last month, Goldman Sachs announced that its chief executive Lloyd Blankfein is to receive a $9 million bonus for his work last year – a lower-than-expected amount and much lower than the $67.9 million he received in 2007.

Posted in Finance Fraud

Tags: 100 Million, Bonus, Chief Executive, Financial Times, Games, Goldman Sachs, Hendler, Lloyd Blankfein, Lost Money, Occasions, Previous Year, Profits, Risk Figure, S Trading, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission, Value At Risk

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Goldman Sachs unpopular due to its success, ex-CEO claims

March 2nd, 2010

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Investment bank Goldman Sachs is unpopular because of its success, a former-chief executive officer (CEO) has claimed.

Jon Corzine, who also used to be chairman of the bank, made the comments during an interview with Bloomberg.

He told the news provider: “When you’re successful it brings envy.”

“People are broadly frustrated with the financial institutions, and since it is the leader of the industry and has shown great success over a long period of time, I think it’s more vulnerable.”

However, Mr Corzine added that bankers should also be more humble “in the overall scheme of public society” due to the anger provoked by the size of many compensation schemes unveiled by banks which have used state bailouts to remain in business.

Profits for Goldman Sachs during 2009 reached $13.4 billion after it benefitted from $10 billion worth of taxpayer aid as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program during the financial crisis.

“People are very frustrated, angry about the compensation issues, particularly in the context of what people perceive as bailouts of each and every one of the folks that participated.”

Goldman Sachs is currently discussing the details of credit swaps undertaken with Greece during 2001 with the
European Union following allegations that it helped the country hide the full extent of its debt from regulators.

Posted in Finance Fraud

Tags: Allegations, Anger, Banks, Bloomberg, Business Profits, Ceo, Chief Executive Officer, Compensation Issues, Compensation Schemes, Envy, Financial Crisis, Financial Institutions, Full Extent, Goldman Sachs, Greece, Investment Bank, Jon Corzine, Period Of Time, Regulators, Swaps

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Brazil Buyout Firms Have $9 Billion in ‘Dry Powder’

March 1st, 2010

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(Bloomberg) — Buyout firms are poised to spend $9 billion in Brazil on everything from infrastructure to oil exploration as the economy recovers from a recession, the nation’s private equity and venture capital association said.

Grupo Santander Brasil and San Francisco-based Paul Capital Partners said they may purchase stakes in companies that will benefit from the country hosting the World Cup in 2014 and Olympics in 2016.

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Posted in Finance Fraud

Tags: Banco Santander, Benchmark Interest Rate, Brazilian Association, Carlyle Group, Chief Economist, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Sachs Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Grupo Santander, Infrastructure Fund, International Monetary Fund, Investment Environment, O Neill, Paul Capital Partners, Private Equity Firm, Rio De Janeiro, Sachs Group Inc, Santander Spain, Venture Capital Association, World Cup In 2014

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Goldman Sachs criticized by financial crisis panel chief

February 27th, 2010

Before You Invest

Goldman Sachs has been singled out for criticism from Phil Angelides, the chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC).

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Angelides said that he was concerned at revelations uncovered by the public hearing that suggest Goldman Sachs had been “creating and selling securities and then fully betting against them”.

He added that recent allegations about Goldman Sachs’ behavior in relation to debt swaps carried out on behalf of the Greek government were also a worry for him.

“I find the practice troubling and it raises questions about fair dealing and trust and transparency in the marketplace,” he said.

The FCIC is set to begin hearing from further witnesses again today (February 26th 2010) after previously taking testimony from leading figures in the US banking sector.

Mr Angelides said that the commission may decide to recall witnesses such as Lloyd Blankfein from Goldman Sachs and Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase as its enquiries continue.

Last month, Mr Blankfein told the inquiry that he believed the lessons of the financial crisis had been learned and such events would not occur again in his lifetime.

Posted in Finance Fraud

Tags: Allegations, Banking Sector, Fair Dealing, Fcic, Financial Crisis, Financial Times, Goldman Sachs, Greek Government, Inquiry Commission, Jamie Dimon, Jpmorgan Chase, Lifetime, Lloyd Blankfein, Panel Chief, Phil Angelides, Public Hearing, Revelations, Selling Securities, Swaps, Transparency

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Citigroup plans to sell hedge fund business

February 26th, 2010

Before You Invest

Citigroup is in talks with SkyBridge Capital to sell its hedge fund business worth $4 billion.

An unnamed source told the Wall Street Journal that the investment banking group is thought to be in “advanced talks” with the organisation, which is run by two former traders from Goldman Sachs.

Assets in the fund include $2.5 billion which Citi advises on, $500 million in capital tied to hedge fund stakes and $1 billion worth of hedge fund investments.

Details of the deal, including how much SkyBridge would be willing to pay, have yet to be disclosed, the news provider reported.

Citigroup announced during 2009 that it would be looking to offload $715 billion worth of assets in a bid to reduce its exposure to risk and the bank is thought to still have more than $500 billion to shift.

According to the news provider, Citigroup has sold a number of assets including stakes in the Japan-based Nikko Cordial securities and Nikko asset-management businesses.

The sale of its Smith Barney brokerage business and consumer finance businesses in Portugal, Italy and Norway have also taken place as the bank attempts to recover in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Fund-of-fund investments in Citigroup increased in 2009 by more than 20 per cent, the news provider stated.

Posted in Finance Fraud

Tags: 1 Billion, Asset Management, Assets, Brokerage Business, Business Worth, Citigroup, Consumer Finance, Crisis Fund, Finance Businesses, Fund Business, Fund Investments, Global Financial Crisis, Goldman Sachs, Hedge Fund, Investment Banking Group, Nikko, Smith Barney, Unnamed Source, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal

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Former Goldman Sachs banker to be Greece’s debt chief

February 24th, 2010

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A former Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley trader has been appointed as Greece’s new head of public debt.

Petros Christodoulou is to take charge of Greece’s Public Debt Management Agency following the departure of Spyros Papanicolaou from the post.

Mr Christodoulou previously worked as the National Bank of Greece’s head of treasury while also undertaking various positions with investment banks JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

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Posted in Finance Fraud

Tags: Bank Of Greece, Budget Deficit, Debt Levels, Diebel, Goldman Sachs, Greek Government, Gross Domestic Product, Investment Banks, Management Agency, Morgan Stanley, Nation States, National Bank Of Greece, New Broom, Nomura International Plc, Papanicolaou, Public Debt Management, S Gross, Scrutiny, Strategist, Swaps

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Secret AIG Document Shows Goldman Sachs Minted Most Toxic CDOs

February 24th, 2010

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(Bloomberg) — When a congressional panel convened a hearing on the government rescue of American International Group Inc.

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Posted in Finance Fraud

Tags: American International Group, American International Group Inc, Bear Stearns, Bear Stearns Cos, Collateralized Debt Obligations, Committee On Oversight And Government Reform, Congressional Panel, Credit Default Swaps, Darrell Issa, Federal Reserve Bank, Geithner, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Sachs Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, House Committee On Oversight And Government Reform, International Group Inc, Mortgage Securities, New York Fed, Sachs Group Inc, Specific Securities

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Reports this week

February 22nd, 2010

Before You Invest

MONDAY
Earnings: Before- CEG, CPB, LOW, DNDN ; After – BRCD, FST, JWN, RSH
Other: Honeywell Annual Investors Conf, Paulson Speaks at Havard, Fed’s Yellen Speaks

TUESDAY
Earnings: Before- BKS, GRMN, HD, M, MDT, ODP, SHLD, TGT, THC, VNO, WPI ; After – ADSK, HTZ
Other: Case-Shiller, Consumer Confidence, Toyota Recall Hearing in DC, Consumer Reports Annual Auto Issue

WEDNESDAY
Earnings: Before – AMT, FTR, TJX, TOL, TSL, ; After – CRM, ESRX, FLS, GDP, LTD
Other: New Home Sales, Crude Inventories, Goldman sachs Tech & Internet Conf, Deere Shareholder Meeting, Greek Nationawide Strike Called, Obama/Biz Roundtable

THURSDAY
Earnings: Before – BX, DPS, DYN, FIG, HNZ, KSS, KG, NEM, ; After – FLR, GPS, NOVL, WYNN
Other: Durable Orders, Continuing Claims, Apple Shareholders Meeting, Buffett lunch, JPMorgan Chase Investors Day, Financial Industry Compensation Hearing

FRIDAY
Earnings: Before – IPG
Other: GDP-Second Estimate, Chicago PMI, Existing Home Sales

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Tags: Apple Shareholders, Auto Issue, Chicago Pmi, Consumer Confidence, Crude Inventories, Dndn, Durable Orders, Esrx, Existing Home Sales, Flr, Fls, Ftr, Goldman Sachs, Grmn, Nationawide, Novl, Shld, Tjx, Vno, Yellen

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Goldman Sachs sues former execs over Credit Suisse switch

February 19th, 2010

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Goldman Sachs is suing seven of its former executives who transferred to a unit of Credit Suisse based in the US.

The seven moved to Credit Suisse Securities USA after resigning from Goldman Sachs earlier this month, reports Bloomberg.

In its court filing, Goldman Sachs accused its former employees of immediately soliciting clients working with the bank.

It also alleges that the Credit Suisse division offered “tens of millions of dollars” to the wealth managers to transfer companies in what was labelled an act of “pirating”.

Goldman Sachs is now seeking a court order against the executives to prevent them from disclosing proprietary details and recruiting former clients.

According to the lawsuit, one of the wealth managers, David Greene, was offered $11 million by Credit Suisse to change firms.

Last month, Goldman Sachs announced it was cutting its pay-to-revenue ratio to 36 per cent – the lowest recorded figure since the company went public back in 1999.

Posted in Finance Fraud

Tags: Act, Credit Suisse, David Greene, Execs, Goldman Sachs, Recruiting, Tens, Wealth Managers

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Ex-Goldman Programmer Aleynikov Pleads Not Guilty

February 18th, 2010

Before You Invest

(Bloomberg) — Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. computer programmer Sergey Aleynikov pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he stole trading software from the bank.

Aleynikov, 40, entered his plea today before U.S.

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