William J. Holstein

Goldman Doing “God’s Work?”
APRIL 17--I suspect that the SEC's case against Goldman Sachs for misleading investors in one particular investment fund is just the tip of the proverbial ice berg. The culture of Goldman Sachs encouraged its employees to think that they were smarter than everybody else, that the rules did not apply to them, that they could beat whatever regulators threw at them. The existence of a very prominent "alumni network" of former Goldman executives located in the U.S. Treasury, White House, and elsewhere encouraged that arrogance.

This culture and mindset needs to be broken. In my contacts in recent weeks with people who work on Wall Street, no one thinks that Goldman has altered its thinking or its arrogance at all. The Street, as a whole, has not either, but Goldman represents the heart of the problem. If Goldman can be humbled, everyone's behavior will change.

So I'm all for the SEC to really dig in. The cynicism at work here is truly breath-taking.