Goldman Sachs making too little money is not the worst of the world’s problems. But inside the investment bank’s New York headquarters, it feels like an insult.
Goldman is not suffering a financial crisis, as it did in 2008 when it officially converted to being a bank holding company amid panic that the whole of Wall Street could collapse. It faces something deeper: an identity crisis.
It used to be the role model for many rival banks — envied even while resented for its single-minded focus on investment banking and trading. But as Tuesday’s disclosure of a 26 per cent fall in its bond trading revenues confirmed, banking has changed. Instead of lenders such as JPMorgan Chase wanting to become as glamorous as Goldman, it needs to be more like them.