Goldman Sachs Probably Won’t Have To Pay All Of The New $5 Billion Mortgage Fraud Settlement

[Human101948]

...But the way such consolidated settlements are structured means Goldman will not pay the full $5 billion price tag touted by Schneiderman.
The so-called “vampire squid” of the banking industry, which manages $861 billion in assets, will be able to write off $1.8 billion worth of consumer relief actions that Goldman must take under the settlement, for example. The same goes for $875 million in payments to settle related cases brought by Schneiderman, his Illinois counterpart Lisa Madigan, the National Credit Union Administration, and federally-backed housing lenders in Chicago and Seattle.
Less than half of the total sticker price — $2.385 billion — is structured as a civil penalty, which is generally not deductible. The settlement papers do prohibit Goldman from seeking FDIC reimbursement for any of the deal’s costs, but that language does not rule out simple deductions....

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/04/11/3768216/goldman-sachs-schneiderman-fine-print/

[Hassin Bin Sober]

1. It's still an expense even if it is a write off? No? Or am I missing something?

Not that I think they should be able to write off any fines.

[Human101948]

3. The real thing is that no one is going to jail, so it is just another "expense"

Cost of doing business.

And thank God they saved those bonuses!

With the help of more than $23 billion in direct and indirect federal aid, Goldman appears to have emerged intact from the economic implosion, limiting its subprime losses to $1.5 billion. By repaying $10 billion in direct federal bailout money — a 23 percent taxpayer return that exceeded federal officials' demand — the firm has escaped tough federal limits on 2009 bonuses to executives of firms that received bailout money.

Goldman announced record earnings in July, and the firm is on course to surpass $50 billion in revenue in 2009 and to pay its employees more than $20 billion in year-end bonuses.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article24561376.html#storylink=cpy

[1StrongBlackMan]

4. Who at G/S should have gone to jail and for what?

I keep asking but no one seems able to answer.

[Human101948]

6. Fraud...

Many there knew that they were lying to investors about the quality of the crap they were selling.

[1StrongBlackMan]

7. Yeah but proving someone in the executive suite know about it is far more difficult than just saying

Many there knew that they were lying to investors about the quality of the crap they were selling.

[Human101948]

8. If they got this small fish, they could have gotten bigger ones...

A former Goldman Sachs trader nicknamed "Fabulous Fab" has been found liable of six fraud claims in one of the most high-profile cases related to the credit crunch.

Fabrice Tourre was described by the face of "Wall Street greed" by Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers during a civil case brought by federal regulators in response to the 2007 mortgage crisis.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/aug/01/fabulous-fab-tourre-guilty-fraud

Though I suspect that he got indicted because someone at Goldman Sachs didn't like him.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. Corporations are specifically designed to shield the "big fish" ...

so, those are all that get caught ... and nothing changes until we take the financial incentives out of it.

[Herman4747]

2. Need Some for Hillary. n/t

[KamaAina]

5. I'm shocked, *shocked* to find out that thievery is going on in this establishment!