More GS Subterfuge

Goldman, Sachs seems incapable of conducting an above-boards, clean business. I think the greed for more money & power led them from being the fine, quality firm of the 1970s and 1980s to become a big hog at the trough. Do they perform simple fee for advisory service business ? Nope, they want a piece of the action via their proprietary desk, and they want terms to enhance its profits. Do they do simple underwritings and distributions ? Nope ... gotta get that proprietary desk into the deal. Do they shop orders and take a clean commission ? Nope, again, gotta get the proprietary desk's snout into that trough, too.

***beginning of quotes***

[WSJ] "BERLIN—Goldman Sachs Group Inc. brought investment banking to Germany 20 years ago. Now, many here say it is giving the business a bad name. Goldman's approach to winning business is coming under fire from German officials, companies and banks. The firm's latest headache: A dispute with the city of Berlin, which has accused Goldman of trying to intimidate it with legal threats in order to make more profit from a housing sale. Goldman denies the accusation

"I would not deal with this bank again unless I couldn't avoid it," said Ulrich Nussbaum, the city of Berlin's finance chief, after months of negotiations over Goldman's wish to take public a company that owns municipal housing in Berlin.

"Under its current head, Alexander Dibelius, Goldman's German unit has diversified its business, becoming a major investor in German businesses as well as a financial adviser. That has led to accusations of a conflict of interest from German companies, which have complained privately that Goldman is both their adviser and competitor in bidding for assets.

Here's another example of conflict of interest, from FT:
"Goldman Sachs was both an underwriter and an investor in Lloyds Banking Group's vast refinancing deal late last year, the FT has learned, highlighting the potential conflicts of interest at the heart of the investment bank’s business model. According to four people involved in the capital raising, Goldman – a dealer manager on the debt portion of the £23.5bn transaction – demanded last-minute changes to the structure of a deal it was underwriting. This had the effect of benefiting its position as a bond investor.

"Goldman bankers stress that its Chinese walls bar underwriters from knowing anything about the investment activity of its proprietary traders and say the exposure of the affair reveals rivals’ opportunism in besmirching its reputation.

***end of quotes***

Chinese walls ? How laughable.

All these issues are clear as crystal to anyone with a moral backbone. GS doesn't have that. Simple, honest fees & commissions don't make enough money, so they wrap them all up with the proprietary trading desk. Gouge as much as possible from the client.

Why not just rename the firm, Goug'em Sachs.

Word of the Day

"Eructation" - noun [$10]; "Eruct" - verb [$10]
Eruct means to belch.
Eructation means the act or instance of belching.
Sentence: Is Goug'em Sachs anything other than huge, greedy hog eructing after every big feed from the trough ?