June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is being “legitimately scrutinized” by regulators who sued the firm for fraud based on conduct that many in the industry consider to be common practice, according to a Bloomberg survey.
The most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history has suffered the worst reputational decline among its largest competitors, according to the global quarterly poll of 1,001 investors and analysts who are Bloomberg subscribers. Eighty- three percent of respondents said Goldman Sachs’s stature diminished in the past six months; the next closest were UBS AG, with 27 percent, and Citigroup Inc., at 26 percent.
“This disaster didn’t occur by mistake,” said respondent Dane Fulmer, who has traded fixed-income financial instruments for 39 years and runs Dane Fulmer Investments in Fort Smith, Arkansas. “If it was an honest mistake, then it far, far surpasses what the law would consider negligent.”
Goldman Sachs was sued April 16 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said the New York-based company failed to inform investors about the role hedge fund Paulson & Co. played in both helping to select contracts underlying a mortgage-linked investment and betting against it. Goldman Sachs has said it did nothing wrong and is fighting the case.
The most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history has suffered the worst reputational decline among its largest competitors, according to the global quarterly poll of 1,001 investors and analysts who are Bloomberg subscribers. Eighty- three percent of respondents said Goldman Sachs’s stature diminished in the past six months; the next closest were UBS AG, with 27 percent, and Citigroup Inc., at 26 percent.
“This disaster didn’t occur by mistake,” said respondent Dane Fulmer, who has traded fixed-income financial instruments for 39 years and runs Dane Fulmer Investments in Fort Smith, Arkansas. “If it was an honest mistake, then it far, far surpasses what the law would consider negligent.”
Goldman Sachs was sued April 16 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said the New York-based company failed to inform investors about the role hedge fund Paulson & Co. played in both helping to select contracts underlying a mortgage-linked investment and betting against it. Goldman Sachs has said it did nothing wrong and is fighting the case.
What means those losses?
Asked for their opinion of the SEC fraud suit, 61 percent of respondents replied that the firm “is being legitimately scrutinized,” while 29 percent answered that the company “is being unfairly vilified.” The remainder were undecided.
Asked for their opinion of the SEC fraud suit, 61 percent of respondents replied that the firm “is being legitimately scrutinized,” while 29 percent answered that the company “is being unfairly vilified.” The remainder were undecided.


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