Goldman loss from crisis was $13.5bn
GOLDMAN Sachs’s losses from the financial crisis were billions more than many investors previously thought, it has revealed, as it re-filed its 2008 and 2009 results to make it clearer how much it lost in the fallout.
The bank incurred a $13.5bn (£8.6bn) loss from its investments and lending in the year to the end of November 2008 – far higher than the $8.5bn it told investors at the time.
Sources close to the bank told City A.M. that the higher figure had always been present in statements at the time but was harder to find in previous reports. The billions of losses would have been accessible only to those who “went through the filings and ran the models”, they said.
“The losses are more clearly disclosed today than they were before,” the source added.
Goldman has not had an “investing and lending” section, which covers transactions using its own money, in its profit and loss accounts until now. The re-file has not changed any of the bank’s results.
Goldman incurred a $5.95bn loss on equity and a $6.33bn loss on debt in 2008, helping to push the bank to a $13.5bn loss on “investing and lending.”
Observers have praised the new disclosure by the bank, but have called on the SEC to look into Goldman’s previous filings.
The re-file is part of a new quest for transparency at the secretive bank. On Tuesday it published a 39-point plan to disclose more of Goldman’s interests in products and transactions to investors and clients.
FAST FACTS | GOLDMAN SACHS
Told investors and filed regulatory notices admitting $8.5bn losses in 2008.
Re-filed accounts show a $13.5bn loss from its own investing and lending in 2008.
Critics call for a further Goldman probe.