Thursday, May 06, 2010

Goldman Sachs And Galleon Group - What's The Connection?

Let's keep kicking Goldman Sachs!  It's so much fun and it doesn't cost a penny.  Their CEO seems to have job security:

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein may take comfort from Wall Street’s legal history: Even after being sued for fraud by regulators and paying multimillion-dollar fines, the biggest financial firms rarely depose their leaders.

It's harder than you think to fire a guy heading a firm under investigation for criminal fraud.  For one thing, Warren Buffett gave him a ringing endorsement at Berkshire's annual meeting.  CEOs directly implicated in corporate wrongdoing are more at risk of dismissal.  Maybe GS's critics would have a stronger case if they can trace wrongdoing directly to the boardroom:

Rajat Gupta, the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director who is being investigated by U.S. authorities over his links to Galleon Group LLC founder Raj Rajaratnam, had a long-standing business relationship with the billionaire hedge fund manager.


You may recall that Galleon Group is a hedge fund whose principals are under investigation for insider trading.   Goldman Sachs was allegedly one of the stocks Galleon illegally traded.  Was Galleon using info from inside Goldman in its trading?  If so, how high up were their sources?  Goldman's senior folks have some explaining to do. 

Full disclosure:  No position in GS at this time.