Goldman Sachs has been in the eye of a storm over the firm’s allegedly unethical conduct before and during the financial crisis. Lawmakers have criticized the firm for selling poor quality mortgage based products to unsuspecting buyers. As the housing segment took a nosedive during the recession, more and more borrowers defaulted on their mortgages, leaving investors with huge losses. [Read more…]
Federal Reserve Expected to Keep Interest Rates Low Despite Signs of Recovery
The economy may be taking baby steps towards recovery, but it looks like the Federal Reserve will most likely keep interest rates at their existing low levels. The committee concluded this in a meeting, and is expected to make an announcement sometime soon. Analysts say that the Federal Reserve is proceeding cautiously and do not want to increase the rates in the short term. [Read more…]
Goldman Sachs Defiant Despite History of Serious Allegations
The SEC lawsuit against Goldman Sachs alleging that it designed a financial product rigged to fail is one among the many that the company has had to face of late.
Back in 2008, Goldman Sachs paid up $60 million to terminate an investigation by the Massachusetts attorney general’s office amidst allegations of irresponsible behavior by co-operating with blacklisted subprime lenders Fremont and New Century. The company claimed that it had done nothing wrong and maintained its innocence. [Read more…]
Goldman Sachs Dealings Reveal Murky Side of High Finance
As the Goldman Sachs issue continues to draw attention from the public, the media and the government, several facts are coming to light that show the murky side of high finance. Questions are being raised about the ethical standards of financial companies and the dubious dealings they indulge in. [Read more…]
Goldman Sachs to Face More Than Just SEC Investigation
Leading investment banking and investment management firm, Goldman Sachs is continuing to bear the brunt of bad publicity and suspicion for its alleged unethical business practices.
Investigators have made it clear that excessive attention to the profits of the company rather than to investor welfare led the firm into promoting unreliable financial products. Analysts believe that these products contributed to the financial crisis, which in turn set off the economic downturn. These allegations have led to investigations and a review of the company’s actions by several bodies, including the SEC. [Read more…]
Probe into Activities of Goldman Sachs in Europe
Goldman Sachs, the investment banking giant, could face a probe into its activities by some of the European countries. Following the fraud case against the company, the United Kingdom and Germany have asked for information from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the activities of the company. [Read more…]
Treasury Secretary Speaks on Urgent Financial Matters
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner recently spoke about some important financial issues on NBC’s Meet the Press. Here are his views on two issues that are likely to be in the news for the next few days.
Financial System Overhaul
Geithner reiterated that America needs some serious financial changes. The Democrats have introduced the financial reform bill, which is likely to ensure that there is a system for preventing future bailouts of financial firms if their failure will hurt the economy. [Read more…]
Dubious Deals Come Back to Haunt Wall Street
The news that Goldman Sachs acted against the interests of its own customers have shaken up the financial world. The Securities and Exchange Commission suit against the company could have an irreversible impact on the industry, but the changes would be positive for everyone else except the banks. [Read more…]
Banks Caught Hiding Their Debt Levels from Investors and You
The Wall Street Journal has reported that several large banks hid their risk levels for the last five quarters, according to the statistics from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
About 20 banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. hid the actual debt that they had taken for funding trading in securities. They used to temporarily lower their debts at the end of each quarter when banks have to publicly disclose their debt data and then they increased their debt levels again in the next quarter. [Read more…]
One of Wall Street’s Biggest Investment Firms Goldman Sachs Denies Betting Allegations
One of Wall Street’s biggest investment and securities firms, Goldman Sachs, has been accused of betting against its clients. The firm allegedly sold securities backed by mortgages to clients, while reducing its own exposure to similar instruments in a bid to lower its risk. [Read more…]
Bill Proposed to Limit Risk Taking by Banks
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to bring in measures to avoid a similar crisis in future. In another such effort, the administration has proposed a bill that would reduce risk taking by large financial companies.
The bill aims to ban financial companies from involving in risky trades for the benefit of the company itself. This kind of trading, known as proprietary trading, is done to make profits for the bank and not for its customers. The bill would also prevent banks from investing in hedge funds and private equity funds. However, all these rules would apply only on companies that use federally insured deposits. [Read more…]
