Why I Left Goldman Sachs: Greg Smith on Business Ethics & the Financial Services Company (2013)
Economy | Information | History | Online | Facts | World | Global | Money
A March 2012 resignation letter from the former head of Goldman Sachs US equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) was printed as an op-ed in The New York Times. About the book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1455527475/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1455527475&linkCode=as2&tag=tra0c7-20&linkId=8eb9c80fa4adb6e52c473bdd005d78ef In it, Smith attacked the company's CEO and president for losing the company's culture, which he described as "the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our clients' trust for 143 years". Smith said that advising clients "to do what I believe is right for them" was becoming increasingly unpopular. Instead there was a "toxic and destructive" environment in which "the interests of the client continue to be sidelined", senior management described clients as "muppets" and colleagues callously talked about "ripping their clients off". In reply, Goldman Sachs said that "we will only be successful if our clients are successful", claiming "this fundamental truth lies at the heart of how we conduct ourselves" and that "we don't think [Smith's comments] reflect the way we run our business." Later that year, Smith published a book titled Why I left Goldman Sachs. Goldman is being criticized for its involvement in the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis. Goldman Sachs is reported to have systematically helped the Greek government mask the true facts concerning its national debt between the years 1998 and 2009.[91] In September 2009, Goldman Sachs, among others, created a special credit default swap (CDS) index to cover the high risk of Greece's national debt.[92] The interest-rates of Greek national bonds have soared to a very high level, leading the Greek economy very close to bankruptcy in March and May 2010 and again in June 2011.[93] Lucas Papademos, Greece's former prime minister, ran the Central Bank of Greece at the time of the controversial derivates deals with Goldman Sachs that enabled Greece to hide the size of its debt.[94] Petros Christodoulou, General Manager of the Public Debt Management Agency of Greece is a former employee of Goldman Sachs.[94] Mario Monti, Italy's former prime minister and finance minister, who headed the new government that took over after Berlusconi's resignation, is an international adviser to Goldman Sachs.[94] So is Otmar Issing, former board member of the Bundesbank and the Executive Board of the European Bank.[94] Mario Draghi, the new head of the European Central Bank, is the former managing director of Goldman Sachs International.[94] António Borges, Head of the European Department of the International Monetary Fund in 2010-2011 and responsible for most of enterprise privatizations in Portugal since 2011, is the former Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs International.[94] Carlos Moedas, a former Goldman Sachs employee, is the current Secretary of State to the Prime Minister of Portugal and Director of ESAME, the agency created to monitor and control the implementation of the structural reforms agreed by the governent of Portugal and the troika composed of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Peter Sutherland, former Attorney General of Ireland is a non-executive director of Goldman Sachs International. These ties between Goldman Sachs and European leaders are an ongoing source of controversy.[94] The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational investment banking firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients. Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 and is headquartered at 200 West Street in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City, with additional offices in international financial centers. The firm provides mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting services, asset management, and prime brokerage to its clients, which include corporations, governments and individuals. The firm also engages in market making and private equity deals, and is a primary dealer in the United States Treasury security market. It is recognized as one of the premier investment banks in the world,[3][4] but has sparked a great deal of controversy over its alleged improper practices, especially since the 2007--2012 global financial crisis. Former Goldman executives who moved on to government positions include: Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, respectively; Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank; Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada 2008--13 and Governor of the Bank of England from July 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Smith_(businessman)
Comments
-
SMALLER BANKS, LIKE BANK OF THE WEST ARE PRONE TO BE MORE CUSTOMER OREINTED AND ARE FDIC INSURED SO NOT SO RISKY AND NOT QUITE A HIGH RETURN BUT SAFE FOR THE AVERAGE JOE ! ! ANYONE AS IN BANK INSTITUTION , WHO HAS PROVEN TO BE HAVE BEEN DISHONEST IS NOT TRUSTWORTHY THERE ARE MANY , CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO TAKE A DEPOSIT SLIP FROM YOU AND YOU DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM PERIOD !!
-
MR. SMITH WAS THERE !! HE IS POINTING OUT THE VERY DOWNFALLS AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE SO EVERYONE CAN BE ON A FAIR PLAYING FIELD !! ANYONE WHAT BE UPSET OVER LOSING THEIR LIFE SAVINGS IT'S A VERY VERY PERSONAL THING FOR ALL OF US HERE IN AMERICA ! !
-
WE TRUSTED THE BANKS, FOR THE AVERAGE JOE TO SAVE ALL HIS LIFE FOR HIMSELF AND HIS FAMILY AND THEN TO BE TAXED AGAIN AND AGAIN ON HIS RETIREMENT FUND AND HAVE IT WIPED OUT OR AWAY FROM A INSTITUTION WHO HAS HIDDEN PLOYS TO AVOID CRIMINAL INTENT TO FRAUD !! WE NEED TO HAVE A NARROW LINE IN OUR LAWS TO CONTROL THE UNCONTROLABLE !! CONGRESS MUST ACT IF THEY DO NOT THE PLAN TO WIGGLE OUT OF ACCOUNTYABILTY WILL HAVE A CONTINUED OPEN HOLE TO MANIPULATE THE WORKING PEOPLE OF THE WORLD !!! A BONUS TO DO WRONG SHOULD BE A JAIL TERM !!
-
despite watching numerous recording about exposing big banks, i still have no idea what it is that they DO.
-
8 years after the Meltdown we still hate bankers.
-
great video
-
So he worked for GS for over 10 years!! How very rich of him.
-
I can't believe c-span recorded this without correcting that atrocious microphone feedback😲
-
I'm watching this now in 2016. absolutely mind boggling. what are policy makers gonna tell the public maybe a few months from now (or less) when the next big crash will unfold, if people have been predicting the decline for years? last time my country Israel was able to manage the crisis because our banks are conservative, but I'm not sure what will happen now. it doesn't help that the entire world now is in political turmoil
-
Excellent insights, thank you!
-
Really good, calm speaker!
-
Sadly the sound is too much to take for an hour solid. Ffs aren't there filters that could be applied?
-
A guy ask @ 55:40 where the staggering amount of $220 billion in one month of new deposit creations was coming from. Greg Smith says that it was coming from people wanting to keep it safe in banks. Why would they do that when there are is low interest rates? No, they would take it out of the bank and move somewhere else with a higher rate of return. That $220 billion was the amount of loans created that month.
-
@27:30 "privatization of the profits, socialization of the downside risks," that's what Chomksy calls "really existing free markets."
-
Never heard worse accent in my entire life.
-
I bet Greg Smith regrets leaving now.
-
Note: The way they talk about any possible reaction to Mr. Smith from his former colleagues at GS, or indeed, any where on Wall St. is precisely the same as police officers are said to (and largely do) react to police officers who blow the whistle on corrupt law enforcement practices: The blue line is lie the $$$$$ line, hiding corrupt practices within the group. Oh, BTW, its also the same as the mafia.
-
Note he says that, at that time, no Presidential candidate was talking about financial segment reforms. Subsequent to this talk, the 2016 primaries heated up, and Bernie began talking about bank reforms, which forced Hillary to start talking about them. Of course, because Hillary is tied to many Wall St. people known to be involved in actions that contributed to the crash, and since shes taken big money from Wall St. firms, rational decisions processes would suggest she is less likely to bring reform. Smith says only reform in the form of changed regulations and the willingness to exercise executive enforcement powers will change this. As I write this, in the course of the campaign, Hill has stated (falsely) that Bernie is a one issue candidate, meaning by that that all he talks about is Wall St. reform. (BTW, this is patently and obviously false since Bernie has stated that the biggest threat to global security is global warming, and this in a debate where others have named mostly Islamicism as the biggest threat to global security.) Bernies reply to Hills one issue statement was nobody else had Wall St reform as even a talking point until Bernie started talking about it. What Bernie has said and how Hill has replied makes Mr. Smiths comments prophetic. Is it somehow a coincidence that the ONLY candidate to launch a major presidential campaign without a super-pac is also the ONLY one to be talking about breaking up the thieves dens, the viper nests that have been called too big to fail, too big to regulate?? Come on people, step up and break down these corrupt, unregulated thieves clubs.
-
The Tax Code references a set of rules to determine who pays for the necessary revenue to run the government. That's all it set out to be, but like everything else in "'free markets" it was re-tooled into a weapon. And with it they fleeced the public. Running in conjunction with this of course is the out and out thievery Greg Smith describes.
Roosevelt turned the tables on the tax code. It worked, and we should start there again. And then we should storm Wall St. - not with force, but with non-participation.
0m 0sLenght
709Rating