With 3.2 billion net profit in the third quarter of 2009, the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs has recovered quickly from the crisis. And for good reason. According to a survey published by The New York Times December 23, analysts at Goldman Sachs had anticipated the collapse of the housing bubble in 2006. The officers of the bank had lowered their recommendation on the mortgage market from positive to negative in December 2006, discreetly. In the process, Goldman Sachs has begun to shed its portfolio of CDOs. The whole, continuing to sell such financial products to its customers.
Losses abysmal for some …
Created in 2005 by two traders at Goldman Sachs, Jonathan Egoli (graduate of Princeton) and the French Centrale Fabrice Tourre, CDOs (Collaterized debt obligations) known as Abacus products were stars.At that time the housing market was booming. More than $ 108 billion of CDOs were sold to institutional investors, pension funds and insurance companies in the United States and Europe between 2005 and mid 2007, according to statistics from the company Dealogic.
… Substantial benefits for other
But the end of the housing bubble has left buyers of CDOs on the straw. Goldman Sachs was not the only one to make the right bet. According to Wall Street sources quoted by The New York Times, other banks, including Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley, and smaller investment companies as Tricadia also bet on falling subprime.And were able to recover sums from insurers.
Given the extent of suspicion, an investigation was initiated by members of Congress, the SEC (the equivalent of the MFA in France) and the Authority of financial sector regulation (FINRA). To determine if these banks and hedge funds have violated the regulations on the sale of securities they have created and injured their own customers. Suspicions immediately contradicted by Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs denies
In a statement posted on its website, the investment bank responds to the New York Times."Goldman Sachs, like many other financial institutions, has suffered substantial losses in its mortgage portfolio, due to the deteriorating housing market." Losses related to such activity amounted to 1.7 billion dollars 2008.
The bank also noted that buyers were "important and sophisticated investors, who had all the resources internally to analyze and adjust their portfolios. Finally, she denied having withheld information to the public regarding its recommendations on CDOs. While the debate swells on the federal government support to banks, which are expected to announce record profits in 2009, explanations of Goldman Sachs will likely be expected to turn.
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Article by New York Times (English)