Goldman Sachs to Review Policy on Conflicts of Interest (GS, KMI, EP, BCS, BAC, C)

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By Paul Ausick Published

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Mergers and acquisitions bankers may become subject to stricter rules for revealing their personal investments as a result of a review now being conducted at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS). A Delaware judge recently scolded Goldman for failing to disclose its top M&A banker’s personal $340,000 investment in Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: EP) to El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP) while the bank was negotiating the $21 billion acquisition of El Paso by Kinder Morgan.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, “Many bankers said they consider personal stockholdings a ‘common-sense’ disclosure. As a result, conflicts due to a financial adviser’s personal holdings rarely become a problem … .” The report also noted that Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) are also reviewing their conflict of interest rules.

Goldman Sachs is under particular scrutiny now, following the publication of a scathing op-ed piece by one of its former executive directors.

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About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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