EXECUTIVES AT Goldman Sachs sold almost $700 million (€500 million) worth of stock following the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission compiled by the Financial Times.
Most of the sales by executives at the Wall Street investment bank occurred during the period in which the firm enjoyed the support of $10 billion in US government funds from the troubled asset relief programme.
The surge in selling among Goldman partners, coming at a time when the government had thrown a lifeline to Wall Street, is likely to draw the ire of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Having survived the crisis with state support, the bank is expected to report strong second-quarter earnings today.
For the eight-month period for which figures are available, Goldman partners sold more than $691 million in company stock, even as the firm expanded its public float from 395 million shares to 503 million shares in the wake of several capital raisings.
By contrast, from September 2007 to April 2008, when Goldman’s average share price was substantially higher, Goldman partners sold about $438 million in stock. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
