Goldman Sachs chief on a flying visit down under
It will be a strictly fly-in, fly-out occasion to meet investors. But he will be making an appearance at a business conference on Friday in which he will give a talk titled "The global economic outlook and the state of capital markets".
Mr Blankfein has been at the helm of Goldman Sachs during one of the investment bank's most controversial periods.
The bank played a leading role in the purchase and sale of so-called "collateralised debt obligations" - complicated financial derivative products that were linked to the US subprime mortgage market - which contributed to the global financial crisis in 2007.
Mr Blankfein has testified before the US Congress to explain Goldman Sachs' role in the creation and distribution of those CDOs.
At one such hearing, he said the bank had no legal or moral obligation to tell its clients that it was selling them financial product it had created and then betting that those same products would fail, because it was not acting in a fiduciary role.
In April 2010, Goldman Sachs was sued by US regulators for doing so.
In March last year, a former Goldman Sachs employee, Greg Smith, wrote a scathing piece for The New York Times in which he criticised Mr Blankfein for letting the firm's "moral fibre" decline. "When the history books are written about Goldman Sachs, they may reflect that the current chief executive officer, Lloyd Blankfein, and the president, Gary Cohn, lost hold of the firm's culture on their watch," he wrote.
Critics of the letter said Mr Smith had worked for the bank for 12 years before deciding to go public about the problems inside it.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
According to the article, Lloyd Blankfein is making a fly-in, fly-out visit to Sydney to meet investors and to appear at a business conference where he will give a talk titled "The global economic outlook and the state of capital markets."
Lloyd Blankfein is the chief executive of Goldman Sachs. The article describes him as one of the most controversial figures in modern finance because he led Goldman Sachs through periods that drew criticism, regulatory scrutiny and public debate over the bank's role in complex products linked to the global financial crisis.
The article says CDOs are complicated financial derivative products linked to the US subprime mortgage market. It reports that Goldman Sachs played a leading role in the purchase and sale of those CDOs, which contributed to the global financial crisis in 2007.
Yes. The article states that in April 2010 Goldman Sachs was sued by US regulators over its activities related to CDOs.
The article reports that when testifying before the US Congress, Blankfein said Goldman Sachs had no legal or moral obligation to tell clients that it was selling products it had created and also betting that those products would fail, because the firm was not acting in a fiduciary role.
Greg Smith is a former Goldman Sachs employee who, in March last year, wrote a scathing piece for The New York Times criticizing Lloyd Blankfein and president Gary Cohn for letting the firm's "moral fibre" decline. The article also notes critics pointed out Smith had worked at the bank for 12 years before going public.
The article specifies the title of his talk—"The global economic outlook and the state of capital markets"—but does not list detailed subtopics. It indicates the visit is aimed at meeting investors and discussing broad economic and capital markets themes.
The article highlights that Goldman Sachs and its leadership have faced public criticism, internal whistleblowing and regulatory action related to complex financial products. For everyday investors, these are governance and reputational factors to be aware of when evaluating financial firms, alongside their financial performance.
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