"After 12 years of working at Goldman Sachs I can honestly say today's climate is more toxic and destructive than I've ever seen". So Greg Smith, (almost former) American investment bank executive, begins his resignation letter published this morning by the New York Times. “The interest of the customer continues to be sidelined while the company is concerned only with increasing its revenues”, continues the manager and the ethics and values that previously characterized the Group have now vanished.
On Wall Street, the reaction was immediate: Goldman Sachs shares have lost more than 4% since the opening of the New York Stock Exchange. It didn't take long for the investment bank to strike back. “NoWe do not agree with the point of view expressed in the NYTimes. In our opinion, we can only be successful if our customers have successor and this fundamental truth is at the heart of how we conduct ourselves,” a Goldman Sachs spokesperson said.
But Greg Smith's words cannot fail to resonate in the heads of investors who have relied on the American bank for years. The broker reiterates that at the beginning of his career, Goldman Sachs “revolved around values such as teamwork, integrity, humility and always trying to do the right thing for the client. It wasn't just about making money: that alone isn't enough to sustain a company for a long time."
We will have to follow the performance of the stock on Wall Street to see if the market agrees with Greg Smith. In the meantime, today the savers who saw their savings disappear in 2007 due to the reckless management of their assets, or those who bought the shares of Leaman Brothers a few days before it went bankrupt or invested in Greek bonds following the advice of some broker unscrupulous than Goldman, you can take a small revenge.
Read Greg Smith's letter in The New York Times
