Whither Europe: Greece’s leading pro-bailout party—conservative New Democracy, which won Sunday’s elections, and socialist Pasok—are still negotiating to form a coalition to govern the teetering nation. Assuming a deal gets done, the first task will be to convince Europe to rewrite the Greek rescue agreement to provide more time—and financing—to meet austerity goals. Read More
Much has been made of Lloyd Blankfein’s comments this morning during a speech in front of the Economic Club of Chicago, where the Goldman Sachs chief executive discussed matters like the Euro crisis, the future of the financial services industry, and why Goldman Sachs is (supposedly) bullish on China.
And then there was his aside about sticking around at Goldman. Read More
And it had nothing to do with Lloyd Blankfein, the Goldman Sachs chief executive officer whose presence in Judge Jed Rakoff’s courtroom last week lent a few light moments to what has been a tedious undertaking. No, we’re talking about news that Mark Schwartz, the banker who headed Goldman’s Asian operations from 1999 to Read More
Whither Europe: Spain will request European aid for its failing banks on Saturday afternoon, Reuters reports. That comes after Fitch Ratings downgraded Spanish debt three notches yesterday, and ahead of Greek elections on June 17 which could thrust European markets into crisis mode. “The government of Spain has realized the seriousness of their problem,” Read More
As we remarked this morning, the wheels of justice have been turning slowly in the insider-trading trial of Rajat Gupta, the former McKinsey & Co. chief executive accused of funneling corporate secrets to Galleon Group hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam.
Indeed, so slowly that Judge Jed Rakoff has exhorted attorneys to liven up proceedings, Read More
Seeking redress: The bankruptcy trustee assigned to recover claims on MF Global’s U.S. brokerage unit pointed a finger at Jon S. Corzine, erstwhile CEO of the failed broker-dealer, in a 275-page report published yesterday. James Giddens, the trustee, may pursue claims of “breach of fiduciary duty and negligence” against Mr. Corzine and other officials, Read More
If so, they hired a real firecracker. Dealbook, meanwhile, filled the void with an annual meeting live blog. The highlights? There was this question: “Do you see a way the company can benefit from the possible collapse of the eurozone?” Also: A Lloyd Blankfein quip about the pay-rate for God’s work.
The shareholders proposals on Read More
JPMorgan fallout: Jamie Dimon couldn’t sleep after seeing the CIO positions! He had a hard time breathing! Mr. Dimon drank vodka, others drank wine and the JPMorgan chief executive officer struggled to fire “sister” Ina Drew. Ms. Drew told executives at an April 9 operating committee meeting that early press reports of the London Whale were Read More
Gary Cohn, Goldman Sachs president and chief operating officer, was on his best behavior last night at the Friends of the High Line spring benefit, as the Lloyd Blankfein heir apparent (or not) was seated behind the lectern at center stage, and had his image projected onto the out-sized screens throughout the evening’s speeches. Read More
Affordable Housing or Lack Thereof
It was less than a year-ago that Lloyd Blankfein’s set his loafered foot in Bed-Stuy, for the groundbreaking of the Bradford, a middle- and low-income development being constructed on Fulton Street. It was an unusual place to find the banker, but Goldman, capable of making money anywhere, had made a $45 million investment in the project. Brownstoner recently passed by the project, and, as you can see, it’s come a long way in a short amount of time.The whole shebang is due to open next summer. Read More
