The Magazine of Corporate Responsibility

Tag Archive for ‘Goldman Sachs’

Scandalous Leadership and Organization Culture: A Theme Runs Through It

While there’s no excuse for recent leadership scandals, Art Stewart writes, “it is also irresponsible to dismiss outright our own role in engendering a culture of duplicity, incompetence, and corruption as if it all could manifest from unsupported solo acts.”

Crony Capitalism? Hank Paulson’s Extraordinary Meeting

A new report by Bloomberg News suggests that in July 2008, then-Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson met with “a dozen or so hedge-fund managers and other Wall Street executives” to discuss a possible scenario for placing mortgage enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into “conservatorship.” Pulitzer Prize-winner Jesse Eisinger says Paulson’s meeting with his former Wall Street peers draws “a picture of a Treasury Secretary who took care of his buddies while allowing the system to blow up.”

VIDEO: Jon Stewart Dissects Jon Corzine and MF Global

Has anything changed in banking regulation since the crisis of 2008? Consider the case of MF Global Holdings Ltd., a New York-based securities firm that filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 31 after disclosing sizable exposure to derivatives and other investments related to billions of dollars in European sovereign debt. The firm was headed by Jon Corzine, a former CEO of Goldman Sachs who subsequently went into politics and was elected U.S. Senator and, later, Governor of New Jersey. In this video clip, “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart compares and contrasts the positions and behavior of Jon Corzine, the politician, with Jon Corzine, the CEO banker.

Business and Human Rights: Interview with John Ruggie

In July 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council endorsed a set of principles designed to address human rights abuses by business. In an interview, the man who led development of those principles – Harvard professor John Ruggie – discusses their implications and explains why he thinks the newly-coined term “human rights due diligence” has already become a permanent entry in the lexicon of international business.

Dodd-Frank Act: How Financial Reform May Be Going Wrong

Almost a year ago, President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act into law. Now, some emerging roadblocks reinforce a fear that Dodd-Frank, which was intended to touch on almost every aspect of the American financial system, may never provide the sweeping reform it promised.

Wall Street Cash Bonuses Fell in 2010; Average $128,530

Cash bonuses paid to New York City securities industry employees declined by nearly 8 percent to $20.8 billion in 2010, as Wall Street firms shifted toward more deferred compensation and higher base salaries, according to an estimate released by the New York State Comptroller. For the average Wall Street worker, however, that still translated into a 2010 cash bonus of $128,530.

Goldman’s Self-Help: Eat, Pay, Trade

Reporter Jesse Eisinger suggests that Goldman Sachs’ announcement last week of a plan to increase transparency and disclosure does not resolve some big questions about the investment banks’ role in financial markets. “Could there be an argument that Goldman should break up into three smaller, more focused companies?” he asks. “It would be better for the financial system, and just might lead to the self-improvement that Goldman is searching for.”

Goldman Sachs Unveils Plan to Increase Disclosure

The investment banking giant, seeking to repair damage to its reputation suffered in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, said its management and board had adopted and begun implementing 39 new policies and practices that represent a “fundamental re-commitment” by the firm to “reputational excellence” and increased transparency and disclosure.

The Year in Wall Street Investigations

It’s been over three years since credit markets started shaking with the early tremors of the subprime crisis, and two years since that spread into a marketwide collapse. Prosecutors, regulators, Congress and journalists have spent the year uncovering the financial shenanigans that brought the market to its knees. It’s been marked by a few blockbuster settlements and more revealing investigations — as well as by some noticeable inaction in the reckoning.

Controversial Chemical Poses Challenge for Colgate-Palmolive

A feisty debate over the safety of the widely used chemical triclosan has put Colgate-Palmolive at the center of a case study in product disclosure and corporate responsibility – one that may ultimately help outline how companies wading through a murky regulatory review and unsettled science should attend to their stakeholders and customers.