Online Encyclopedia
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=NaodW29-item4d11dac11e14fcc
4 ) (referred to as GS, or just Goldman) is one of the world's leading and most profitable investment banks. The firm was founded in 1869. Headquartered in downtown New York City at 85 Broad Street ([1] http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&address=85+Broad+Street+10004+&c
ity=New+York&state=NY ), Goldman operates globally with offices in leading financial centers, e.g. New York City, Frankfurt, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
The Company employed 19,476 people at the end of November 2003. Pre-tax earnings in the 2003 fiscal year ending November 30 were $4.445 billion. The CEO is Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
Goldmans is possessed of a distinctive mission statement or statement of business principles that is arguably one of the most thoughtful and impressive in the financial world (see below). Goldman's culture may be one of the secrets of its longevity and success.
Goldman is mostly involved in wholesale financial services, although it has a newer and growing Private Client Services arm. Its largest area of activity is proprietary trading, that is, executing trades for its own profit with its own money. In fact, investment banking accounts for only 5 percent of Goldmans profits as of this writing.
| Contents |
Alumni of Goldman Sachs
Many former partners of Goldman Sachs have gone on to hold prominent public positions including Robert Rubin the United States Secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton, Jon Corzine currently a United States Senator from New Jersey, and John Thain currently the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange.
Another former partner, Jack Ryan (Senate candidate), withdrew from his bid for the open United States Senate seat in Illinois after reports of embarrassing allegations about his sexual past.
Scandals involving Goldman Sachs
Joyti De-Laurey
Joyti De-Laurey was convicted eleven to one in April 2004 by a UK jury for stealing more than £4m by forging cheques.
A spokesman for Goldman Sachs described the thefts as "gross abuse of trust and an extremely unpleasant incident for all those affected". The Financial Times called her a "queen of deceit", Scott Mead , the executive whose signature De-Laurey forged, called her a "Picasso of con-men— she was brilliant". Another previous boss of hers, Ron Beller said she was "a very clever con artist". She also worked for Jennifer Beller .
Critics have suggested that the case has been over-stated, as forging cheques does not require exceptional intelligence. Also, claims that forgeries were exceptional are questionable as another witness to the case, Ms. Sophie Pemberton, who is another employee of Mead's, stated that Mead "never signed anything" and that she regularly forged his signature.
Misleading analysis of telecommunications companies
In a statement issued by William Donaldson, chairman of the US securities and exchange commission on October 31st 2003, he said Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse First Boston, Goldman, Lehman , Merrill Lynch, Piper Jaffray , Salomon Smith Barney, and UBS Warburg (now known as UBS Securities) ("UBS") issued research reports that were not based on principles of fair dealing and good faith and did not provide a sound basis for evaluating facts, contained exaggerated or unwarranted claims about the covered companies, and/or contained opinions for which there were no reasonable bases in violation of New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") Rules 401, 472 and 476(a)(6), and NASD, Inc., Rules 2110 and 2210 as well as state ethics statutes.
An analyst, Craig Kloner , when asked what his three most important goals for 2000 were, said "to get more investment banking revenue" ([2] http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr18113.htm ) ([3] http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/value/archive/2003/va0429.htm ).
The Financial Times called it "the worst financial scandal in a generation". Donaldson fined Goldman-Sachs US$110m, and the investment banks as a whole $1.4bn ([4] http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr18438.htm ) in the so called "global settlement".
Diversity
Goldman Sachs recieved a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report. In addition, the company was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine.
See also
Financial regulation , Misleading financial analysis, Corporate crime, financial bubble
External links
- Goldman Sachs website http://www.gs.com/
- Online version of the 2003 Goldman Sachs annual report and accounts http://www.gs.com/our_firm/investor_relations/financial_reports/articles/annual_
reports_articles_040212170048.html - Goldman Sachs Statement of business principles http://www.gs.com/our_firm/the_culture/business_principles.html
Data
- Yahoo! - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Company Profile http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/40/40176.html
Litigation
- The prosecution and settlement of the research scandal cases http://www.sec.gov/spotlight/globalsettlement.htm
-
SEC Final Judgment http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/judg18113.pdf in SEC v. Goldman, Sachs & Co.
- Appendix A http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/finaljudgadda.pdf
- Appendix B http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/finaljudgaddb.pdf
- Goldman Sachs Investor Education http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/inved18113.pdf
- Goldman Sachs Distribution Fund Plan Order http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/distr18113.pdf
Articles
- An article criticising GS http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1200369,00.html and using this criticism to defend the criminal actions of Ms De-Laurey.
- http://www.ftknowledge.com/solutions/artcl_barber_print.html