Goldman Sachs says it's not their fault if the Cradle of Western Civilization goes Bust

[marmar]

Goldman Sachs Says Greek Swaps Not ‘Inappropriate’ (Update2)
By Gavin Finch and Andrew MacAskill


Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. did “nothing inappropriate” when it arranged currency swaps for Greece that reduced the nation’s national debt by 2.37 billion euros ($3.2 billion), a top executive said.

“They did produce a rather small, but nevertheless not insignificant reduction, in Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio,” Gerald Corrigan, chairman of Goldman Sachs’s regulated bank subsidiary, told a panel of U.K. lawmakers today. The swaps were “in conformity with existing rules and procedures.”

Corrigan was the first executive at Goldman Sachs, Wall Street’s most profitable securities firm, to speak publicly about the swaps after politicians including Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats questioned whether it helped Greece reduce the deficit to comply with the euro’s membership criteria. The bank was paid about $300 million from the swaps, the New York Times reported Feb. 14.

“There was nothing inappropriate,” Corrigan told Parliament’s Treasury Committee. “With the benefit of hindsight, it seems to be very clear that the standards of transparency could have, and probably should have been, higher.”

The New York-based firm consulted European Union regulators when it arranged the swaps in 2000 and 2001, he said. Eurostat officials said last week they only recently became aware of the contracts. Goldman Sachs was “by no means the only bank involved” in arranging the contracts, Corrigan said. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=afUGC3kvOQBQ&pos=1

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Goldman Sucks. n/t

[HeresyLives]

2. The cradle of 'western' civilization should also

have known better.