Goldman’s $100 Million “Wrong Way” Natural Gas Bet Must Prompt Regulatory Scrutiny, And Whether Volcker Rule Needs to be Tightened
Aug. 18, 2017
Goldman’s $100 Million “Wrong Way” Natural Gas Bet Must Prompt Regulatory Scrutiny, And Whether Volcker Rule Needs to be Tightened
Statement of Bartlett Naylor, Financial Policy Advocate, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division
The Trump administration’s team of high-profile Goldman Sachs alumni as well as federal regulators must examine the circumstances of Goldman Sachs’ reported $100 million loss in what the Wall Street Journal calls a ‘wrong way gas bet.”
This Goldman loss emphasizes that regulators must improve enforcement of the Volcker Rule. Instead, the banking policy team President Donald Trump has assembled is clotted with Goldman Sachs alumni with stated intent to dilute this critical reform from the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman veteran, issued a policy blueprint in May calling for relaxed Volcker enforcement. Currently, three regulatory agencies are seeking public comment about ways of implementing the Mnuchin policy. Goldman Sachs enabling Goldman Sachs risky behavior fails to serve Americans.
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