Goldman lawsuit ratchets up pressure on banks to get their house in order

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Goldman Sachs for allegedly misleading clients has provoked widespread vilification of the bank. But is it reasonable to expect ethical conduct by investment banks to extend beyond legal compliance?

goldman-david-viniar
Goldman Sachs CFO, David Viniar, at a Senate subcommittee hearing in April 2010

The filing of a lawsuit on April 16 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Goldman Sachs for – it alleges – intentionally misleading investors has renewed public anger at the behaviour of ‘greedy’ investment bankers, whose supposedly excessive culture of risk-taking was considered a major catalyst of the subprime mortgage meltdown in 2007 and subsequent global financial crisis.

Following the announcement of the lawsuit, Goldman Sachs executives fought vehemently to defend the firm

Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.

To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@risk.net or view our subscription options here: http://subscriptions.risk.net/subscribe

You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@risk.net to find out more.

Sorry, our subscription options are not loading right now

Please try again later. Get in touch with our customer services team if this issue persists.

New to Risk.net? View our subscription options

You need to sign in to use this feature. If you don’t have a Risk.net account, please register for a trial.

Sign in
You are currently on corporate access.

To use this feature you will need an individual account. If you have one already please sign in.

Sign in.

Alternatively you can request an individual account here