I would have liked to know as much as we ready us

"The firm", - as it is known on Wall Street-, counter-attack. Target of criticism for several months, the highest American Bank (result in 2009 $ 13.4 billion) has decided to defend his reputation against the threat of brain drain. In the aftermath of his letter to shareholders, where she defends itself vigorously to have intended "betting against its clients" (Fund of pension or other investors), the principal leaders of Goldman Sachs attempt to justify his conduct during the crisis in a long "exclusive" interview with "businessweek" magazine dated April 12. An attempt to "rehabilitation" urgent to the degradation of the public image of the Bank (32,000 employees), considered one of the main "beneficiaries" of the crisis with a doubling of the course of its action for a year.

The attraction of "hedge funds".

A few weeks after the resignation of Pierre-Henri Flamand, responsible for the activities of trading owner (Principal Strategies Group) in London, to create his own "hedge fund", is the Tower of Ali Hedayat, thirty-five years, co-editor of the main internal alternative funds of Goldman Sachs in the US, to leave his duties. Although not officially confirmed by "the firm", this new start has been validated by three sources to Bloomberg. Even more than the potential impact of the "Volcker rule" on the prohibition of trading owner, this series of departures seems linked to remuneration levels in the sector of "hedge funds". "The negative impact of bad on the morale of employees", Goldman Sachs himself mentioned in his last "filing" to the SEC on February 26, is also a potential factor.

"I would have liked to know as much as we ready us." "But no one, certainly not we, could know the depth of the crisis to which we have to face", says Chief Financial Officer of Goldman Sachs, David Viniar, "businessweek", rejecting strongly the idea that the firm was able to play "against" its investor clients by taking short positions ("short positions") before the collapse of the residential market.

It must be remembered that over the past months Goldman Sachs and its CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, already heard by the same commission on the financial crisis which testified, yesterday morning, Alan Greenspan, have been the target of all the criticism. First on the level of the bonus, then on its switching old, legal but ethically questionable, to help the Greece to hide a part of its public debt and, finally and most importantly, the rescue of AIG's which cost the American taxpayer $ 180 billion.

"Eroded excess" of the Government

Goldman Sachs has obviously decided out of the "strategy of the bunker." It is not certain, however, that his plea pro domo is sufficient to allay the controversy on its controversial in the rescue of AIG. The crux for the American Bank is to challenge a rampant charge in the American press and, in particular, in the dans le dernier last book of the "New York Times journalist, Andrew Sorkin,"Too Big To Fail", which the Bank would, somehow,"removed"the US Government forced him to repay full pot of"credit default swaps"(CDS), these famous credit derivatives that Warren Buffett has described as"financial weapons of mass destruction. "

"The idea that Goldman Sachs would have drop AIG is one of the greatest myths of this crisis," said Harvey Schwartz, co-lead of the branch of the "global securities" and derived products, "BusinessWeek". "It is categorically impossible for us to bring down a firm," he added in response to accusations of the former boss of AIG, Maurice Greenberg. Considers that this is a total misunderstanding of the role of "market maker". Similarly, Goldman Sachs challenged strongly taking positions of short selling on CDOS sold to investors and thus to have bet against its own customers. Today, Goldman Sachs scans these charges to defend his reputation. But the escape of some of its star traders and the recruitment of a former reporter of the "New York Times", Stephen Labaton, as consultant for its crisis communication, shows that his "rehabilitation" of image work is just beginning.