As Goldman Sachs prepared to announce its fourth quarter earnings and employee compensation levels yesterday, the bank had bomb-sniffing dogs and police barricades on hand at its New York City headquarters, the New York Post reports.
The decision to boost security as its offices was apparently driven by growing fervor over the bank's huge profits and bonuses. Yesterday, the bank announced that it earned $13.4 billion for the year, and set aside $16 billion for employee compensation. Goldman was widely expected to set aside approximately $20 billion for employee pay, but CFO David Viniar suggested yesterday in a call with reporters that the bank wasn't blind to the "pain and suffering in the world" and "wasn't deaf to the calls for restraint."
Viniar's remarks indicate an abrupt change in tone among Goldman Sachs execs. In November, CEO Lloyd Blankfein -- who had previously bragged that the bank was doing "God's work" -- said the following at an industry conference:
rest at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/22/goldman-sachs-had-bomb-sn_n_432750.html
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