WASHINGTON - Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein says Wall Street compensation needs to be overhauled and hedge funds subjected to government oversight to reduce excessive risk taking that stoked the global financial crisis.
Lloyd Blankfein, who received compensation valued at nearly $43 million last year, said yesterday lessons from the crisis include the need to "apply basic standards to how we compensate people in our industry."
This guy (jewish) couldn't have said that with a straight face.
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Six months after accepting a financial lifeline from Washington, a newly profitable Goldman Sachs is pushing to return the billions of taxpayer dollars that it received in an effort to extricate itself from heightened government control.
Related: Goldman Sachs Wants to Keep Bonuses
Goldman, which rode out the final, tumultuous months of 2008 with the help of a federal rescue, reported strong quarterly profit yesterday and said it would seek to raise money in the capital markets to repay the government.
Related: Congress Gives Bankers Permission to Lie
If successful, Goldman would become the first major bank to return funds received under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Such a step would probably enable Goldman - long one of the most lucrative places to work on Wall Street - to free itself from government-imposed restrictions on compensation.
It is unclear how quickly Goldman, which was also a beneficiary of a separate government rescue of the American International Group, might be allowed to return the $10 billion it accepted last October. While Goldman's latest results bolster its case for untangling itself from TARP, federal regulators are nonetheless concerned about the health of the broader financial industry and the implications such a move might have for other institutions.
Goldman disclosed profit of $1.66 billion in the quarter, marking a strong comeback from a loss in late 2008. Goldman's profit was propelled by record revenues of $6.56 billion in its fixed income unit, where mortgage and other credit instruments are traded. Overall, Goldman's revenues were $9.43 billion, or $3.39 a share in the quarter, up 13 percent from the first quarter a year ago. Goldman reported its results a day ahead of schedule, setting a positive tone for other bank results expected in the coming week.
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I'm tired of the flim-flam shell game, aren't you?
