Professor Voices » Goldman Sachs

Goldman/Libya ties probed

Jo Breiner — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:08:42 +0000

Boston University School of Law professor Tamar Frankel is an authority on securities law, corporate governance, and legal ethics. She offers the following comments on a report that regulators are looking into dealings between Goldman Sachs and Libya’s sovereign-wealth fund and if any bribery laws were violated:

“So Goldman Sachs is now being examined for various activities with the Libyan regime. The firm has hired an outside counsel, as is its practice, and insists on having done no wrong. It probably did not, in accordance with our laws.

“Many of the enforcement examinations, investigations, and court processes arise after the fact and cost an enormous amount of money, with some results — but perhaps not as strong as compared to their price.

“Are there better ways to induce giant financial institutions’ management to be more self-limiting, even within the law? Perhaps the answer is public opinion. If trust is undermined, financial businesses evaporate. For too long the belief was that if money is made — no matter how — public admiration will follow. Could this belief be proven to have changed?”

Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu

Goldman CEO to testify at Rajaratnam trial

Jo Breiner — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:57:21 +0000

Boston University law professor Tamar Frankel, an authority on securities law, corporate governance, and legal ethics, offers the following comment on the news that Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein will testify at the insider trading trial of Galleon Group’s co-founder Raj Rajaratnam:

“When the CEO of a large investment bank is ready to testify in a case of insider trading against a former director, what does it teach us? It shows that the court of public opinion is in session.”

Contact Tamar Frankel, 617-353-3773, tfrankel@bu.edu

Goldman Sachs releases report on changes in business practices

Rebecca Loya — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:43:35 +0000

Goldman Sachs has released a report which sets force changes in the way it will do business. Law professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law, sees the changes as a positive move.

“Goldman’s plan to take the creation of structured financial products out of the hands of traders and give that responsibility solely to investment bankers is a positive move. The next step for Goldman, in burnishing its tarnished reputation, should be to ensure that complex products it creates are understood by their creators, by Goldman’s directors and regulators, and by its customers.”

Contact Cornelius Hurley, 617-353-5427, ckhurley@bu.edu