Fraud Charges Deal A Huge Blow To Reputation Of Goldman Sachs
While Goldman Sachs contends with the government’s civil fraud charges, an equally serious problem looms: a damaged reputation that may cost it clients. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s bombshell civil fraud charge against Goldman has tarnished the Wall Street bank’s already bruised image, analysts say. It could also hurt its ability to do business in an industry based largely on trust. AWIP: Goldman Sachs faces questions in Europe. WSWS: Fallout from Goldman Sachs indictment spreads.
The Guardian: Now we know the truth. The financial meltdown wasn't a mistake – it was a con:
The global financial crisis, it is now clear, was caused not just by the bankers' colossal mismanagement. No, it was due also to the new financial complexity offering up the opportunity for widespread, systemic fraud. Friday's announcement that the world's most famous investment bank, Goldman Sachs, is to face civil charges for fraud brought by the American regulator is but the latest of a series of investigations that have been launched, arrests made and charges made against financial institutions around the world. Big Finance in the 21st century turns out to have been Big Fraud. Yet Britain, centre of the world financial system, has not yet levelled charges against any bank; all that we've seen is the allegation of a high-level insider dealing ring which, embarrassingly, involves a banker advising the government. We have to live with the fiction that our banks and bankers are whiter than white, and any attempt to investigate them and their institutions will lead to a mass exodus to the mountains of Switzerland. The politicians of the Labour and Tory party alike are Bambis amid the wolves.