Goldman Sachs is one of the world's leading and most profitable investment banks. The firm was founded in 1869. Headquartered in New York, Goldman operates world-wide but especially in the leading financial centres i.e. New York, Frankfurt, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
It employed 19,476 people at the end of November 2003. Pre-tax earnings in the year to November 2003 were $4.445 billion. The CEO is Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
Goldmans is possessed of a distinctive mission statement or statement of business principles that is arguably one of the most thoughtful and impressive in the financial world (see below). Goldman's culture may be one of the secrets of its longevity and success.
A spokesman for Goldman Sachs described the thefts as "gross abuse of trust and an extremely unpleasant incident for all those affected". The Financial Times called her a "queen of deceit", Scott Mead, the executive whose signature De-Laurey forged, called her a "Picasso of con-men— she was brilliant". Another previous boss of hers, Ron Beller said she was "a very clever con artist". She also worked for Jennifer Beller.
Critics have suggested that the case has been over-stated, as forging cheques does not require exceptional intelligence. Also, claims that forgeries were exceptional are questionable as another witness to the case, Sophie Pemberton, who is another employee of Mead's, stated that Mead "never signed anything" and that she regularly forged his signature.
The Financial Times called it "the worst financial scandal in a generation". Donaldson fined Goldman-Sachs US$110m, and the investment banks as a whole $1.4bn [1].
