Goldman Sachs is a past master at fuzzifying regulations so that Goldman can continue as before. That, folks, is what corruption looks like. Goldman does not care and, apparently, does not need to care about any regulations that may come their way.
How Goldman Sachs beat the Volcker Rule
By Dan Primack - CNNMoney
. . . .
The smart money either ignored Volcker on private equity or applied it only to future activities. The most obvious example is Goldman Sachs (GS), which in 2007 raised a $20.3 billion private equity fund called GS Capital Partners VI that included approximately $9 billion in commitments from the bank and bank employees (too high a percentage to comply with Volcker). Goldman has decided not to divest its interest in the fund, believing that it will be able to secure enough extensions to responsibly liquidate once Volcker is finalized. The bank's group also has raised several new funds since Dodd-Frank was signed, including an energy fund, a renminbi-denominated fund, and a real estate mezzanine fund. Goldman believes these new vehicles will comply with Volcker, based on language in a draft proposal of the rule. But if not, it can either request extensions or spin them out to a later date.
In other words, Goldman Sachs is profiting from activities that may be banned under Volcker because it didn't begin moving when Obama's pen struck paper. In fact, its earnings are probably amplified because rising public equity values over the past two years have led to a particularly strong exit environment for private equity. And the exact opposite is true for banks and other regulated institutions that divested from private equity during the past three years, based on the false assumption that Congress actually meant what it passed.
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