CEO: No Special Treatment for Goldman Sachs

Financial giant Goldman Sachs has gotten plenty flak from the public outrage over its role in initiating the financial crisis that has made life difficult for so many Americans. For the most part, Goldman Sachs has taken the criticisms of its greed and recklessness in stride.

However, chief executive Lloyd Bankfein has asserted that Goldman Sachs did not get any special treatment by the government to counter several suggestions that it did.

A variety of Goldman Sachs executives have gone on to hold top-tier positions in the United States government, such as Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, who was once a Goldman CEO. However, Bankfein has done his best to ensure that his company does not pull any strings with the government and that the connection only seems corrupt because of the times we are in.

 Critics have argued that Goldman’s ties to the government may have made it easier for the company to receive its massive federal bailout. Many of these critics have also called for Goldman Sachs to rapidly pay back the taxpayer money that saved the corporation and to curb its lavish bonus practices, two things that Bankfein seems hesitant to dismiss.

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