goldman-sachs

Former Goldman Sachs Staffer: Company's Mortgage Mod Process Was "Total Disaster"
In 2009, tens of thousands of homeowners with mortgages serviced by Goldman Sachs subsidiary Litton Loan Servicing entered into trial loan modifications. But fewer than 12% of those same people ever received permanent adjustments to their mortgages, not because they didn't qualify, but because Litton's system for handling paperwork was a horrendous mess. More »

Goldman Sachs Executive Resigns Via Column In New York Times
Greg Smith, a Goldman Sachs executive, has resigned in a rather unique way, he's written a very frank op-ed column in the New York Times, thereby fulfilling a fantasy held by every single person who has ever felt like quitting a job in a spectacular fashion. Mr. Smith, was head of Goldman's United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He also managed the summer intern program in sales and trading. "I knew it was time to leave when I realized I could no longer look students in the eye and tell them what a great place this was to work," he says. More »

Apple & Google Are Corporate Kings Of Consumer Opinion, Big Banks Fail To Impress
When it comes to trusting corporations, it seems we're a lot more likely to have high opinions of the ones that provide us with shiny toys and zippy technology, rather than big bad banks and other financial institutions. That is, according to an annual public opinion poll on corporate brands. More »

Goldman Sachs Loses Money For First Time Since Financial Crisis Began
For the first time since the advent of the financial meltdown, and for only the second time since 1999 when it became a publicly traded company, Goldman Sachs has — Gasp! Horror! Shock! — lost some money. More »

NY Attorney General Investigating Pre-Bust Hijinks At Bank Of America, Goldman Sachs & Morgan Stanley
Just when you think the beleaguered bankers of the world can finally stop dealing with pesky investigations into their roles in the recent financial ugliness (some would call it a global economic meltdown), some Columbo-like snoop has to say, "Just one more thing" and open up all new cans of worms. The latest can-opener is New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has reportedly begun a broad investigation of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. More »

Goldman Actually Borrowed From Fed Discount Window 5 Times, Contradicting Bank Claims
Looks like Goldman has been a more frequent visitor to the Federal trough than they've been letting on. Despite testifying before Congress that they had only accessed the Federal Reserve's discount window, which lets banks borrow cash from the government quickly and on favorable terms, just once, Bloomberg reports that recently released data shows they actually took at least five overnight loans from the Fed between September 2008 and 2010. More »

Sex At Goldman Sachs Is Cool As Long As You Report It
On the (high) heels of a sex-discrimination lawsuit filed last week by three female current and former Goldman Sachs employees, The Daily Beast takes a look at the investment firm's official and unofficial internal policies on dating and sex. Basically, a far worse crime than a boss groping a subordinate is a subordinate not reporting it. No news yet though on what their internal policies are on screwing America in the workplace. More »

New Trailer For "Inside Job" Financial Crisis Documentary
Get ready to slake your thirst for populist rage. Inside Job is a new documentary coming out in October that aims to expose the truth about the true architects of the financial implosion of 2008. You can probably guess from the title whom they're fingering. Matt Damon is the narrator and it's released by Sony Pictures Classics. Here's the trailer: More »

NYC Wants A Grocery Store, Goldman Sachs Wants A Glorious Ballroom
Some New York City locals feel that they were promised a grocery store and maybe a hardware store when Goldman Sachs was approved to buy a building in their neighborhood, and are extremely upset to find out they're getting a trio of restaurants from Danny Meyer, a ballroom and a conference center. More »

Goldman Might Settle All SEC Probes With One Lump Sum
To avoid a costly and extended legal process and staunch further image degradation, Goldman Sachs is talking to the SEC about tying up their big probe and all their little probes in a little bow. More »

Goldman Riskier Than Citigroup
Bond markets slammed Goldman Sach this week, making the firm pay more for cashizzle then even the bailed-out Citigroup. Goldman's yield rose to 2.79 percentage points over Citigroups' 2.29. At the end of March, before the legal and regulatory headaches began, Citigrouop's spread was wider than Goldman's by .45 percentage points. Higher yields on debt usually indicate a higher risk of default or other negative credit events. Concerns continue to mount over how long and how deep the firm will be tainted by the SEC's civil lawsuit and the investigation by federal prosecutors, and what other skeletons the scrutiny might shake out.

Blankfein’s Bonds Are Riskier Bet Than Pandit’s: Credit Markets [Bloomberg] More »

The 23 Best Big Companies To Work For
While there are the Comcasts and the Cash4Golds out there, it's heartening to know that there are actually companies deemed to be "good" to work for. Exciting! Thanks for putting together a list of 23 of those magical companies, Fortune! More »

Feds Said To Be Opening Criminal Investigation Of Goldman
As if Goldman Sachs didn't already have enough problems with the SEC's civil probe of the firm and senators screaming at execs about the "shitty deals" offered to clients, word is out now that federal prosecutors are investigating the company. According to reports out this morning, the investigation is just starting up, and no charges have been made against the company. More »

Senator To Goldman Sachs: "Why Did You Push A Shitty Deal?"
We don't normally put expletives in our headlines, but when a Senator says the word nearly a dozen times in an open hearing, who are we to argue? And, we have to admit, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) certainly makes a compelling case when he reads back Goldman Sachs internal emails and concludes that the company's "top priority was selling that shitty deal." Video after the jump. More »

Somali Pirates Disclose They're A Goldman Sachs Subsidiary
A mosquito-boat's worth of Somali pirates stunned the courtroom today when they disclosed their entire piracy enterprise was in fact a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs. More »

Did Paulson Violate The Fair Credit Reporting Act?
When the SEC announced its fraud complaint against Goldman Sachs, people noted that the penalties involved would involve money, not jail time. But an attorney writing for seekingalpha.com argued over the weekend that John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who worked with GS to create "synthetic derivatives," accessed FICO scores to create his financial product and therefore violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)—which could mean a penalty as high as $1 billion, and even jail time if the FTC or Justice Department decides to go after him. More »

10 Things You Don't Know About The Goldman Sachs Case
The media spin cycle is churning out its typically tepid hogwash about the SEC's suit against Goldman Sachs. The Big Picture skewers 10 myths about the case and gets to the heart of the matter: Goldman is screwed. Here's why: More »

SEC Wants Disclosures For Asset Backed Securities Written In Python
"Waterfall" provisions of asset backed securities are the rules that explain the flow of funds in the transaction, and they are are very hard to read. Blogger/professor Jayanth Varma calls them "horrendously complicated," leading trustees to make mistakes or pull stunts that investors never expected. To remedy this, the SEC is proposing that the provisions be written in a programming language, filed on EDGAR, and made available as downloadable Python source code. More »

SEC Charges Goldman Sachs With Fraud
The SEC today announced civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs and VP Fabrice Tourre. The chargea allege that Goldman ripped off investors by allowing a client who bet against the housing market to pick the mortgage securities being sold to other investors who were also investing in the housing market. More »

Bankers Back To Congratulating Themselves, Bonuses Up 17%
In these tough times, it's easy to forget about the struggling bankers out there as you dodge their SUVs on your walk to the unemployment office. So it's a good thing they have someone looking out for their financial interests — themselves. More »