Skip to comments.
Greece Paid Goldman $300 Million To Help It Hide Its Ballooning Debts
Clusterstock ^
| 2/14/10
| Henry Blodget
Posted on 02/14/2010 7:18:12 PM PST by DontTreadOnMe2009
In 2001, just after Greece was admitted to Europes monetary union, Goldman helped the government quietly borrow billions, people familiar with the transaction said. That deal, hidden from public view because it was treated as a currency trade rather than a loan, helped Athens to meet Europes deficit rules while continuing to spend beyond its means...
Instruments developed by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and a wide range of other banks enabled politicians to mask additional borrowing in Greece, Italy and possibly elsewhere.
In dozens of deals across the Continent, banks provided cash upfront in return for government payments in the future, with those liabilities then left off the books. Greece, for example, traded away the rights to airport fees and lottery proceeds in years to come.
[Greece paid Goldman] about $300 million in fees for arranging the 2001 transaction, according to several bankers familiar with the deal.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: eu; goldman; goldmansachs; greece; gs; wallstreet
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60 next last
Greece paid Goldman Sachs $300 million in fees for arranging the 2001 transaction, according to several bankers familiar with the deal.
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
If the headline is true, heads should roll and be put on pikes.
2
posted on
02/14/2010 7:19:34 PM PST
by
GeronL
(Dignity is earned from yourself. Respect is earned from others.)
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
I almost feel sorry for convicted bank robbers when I look at how Goldman profits from crime.
3
posted on
02/14/2010 7:20:25 PM PST
by
stephenjohnbanker
(Support our troops, and vote out the RINOS)
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
Surely this monkey business can’t be exclusive to Greece.
4
posted on
02/14/2010 7:22:19 PM PST
by
HiTech RedNeck
(I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
Nothing is going to happen. GS has Geithner on speed dial.
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
Well, isn’t this getting interesting. We the people of Government Sachs were left in the dark on this? SHEESH!
Who will protect us from our protectors?
6
posted on
02/14/2010 7:26:27 PM PST
by
PGalt
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
Goldman is rotten to the core. And they own the Obama administration.
8
posted on
02/14/2010 7:26:54 PM PST
by
ClearCase_guy
(I was born in America, but now I live in Declinistan.)
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
Not one single dollar to Goldman Sachs from taxpayer funds. No, never again.
9
posted on
02/14/2010 7:27:50 PM PST
by
Steelfish
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
Goldman Sachs et al
Q: What do we do with robbers and cheats like these mafioso?
A: We appoint them to government posts.
10
posted on
02/14/2010 7:29:56 PM PST
by
eleni121
(For Jesus did not give us a timid spirit , but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline)
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
Why would anybody do business with GS when they will stab you right in the back.
11
posted on
02/14/2010 7:30:15 PM PST
by
C19fan
To: holdonnow; HonestConservative; kristinn
12
posted on
02/14/2010 7:31:53 PM PST
by
AliVeritas
(Stolen from the best site ever: http://directorblue.blogspot.com/)
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
Nothing wrong here. Goldman is in business to make money. It didn’t violate any laws as far as I can see. Unethical? maybe, but so what? As long as they make money for their stockholders. As for the Greek government, that’s for the Greeks to deal with..
13
posted on
02/14/2010 7:34:10 PM PST
by
Cacique
(quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat ( Islamia Delenda Est ))
To: DontTreadOnMe2009
Greece, for example, traded away the rights to airport fees and lottery proceeds in years to come. I bet the State of California has done stuff like this. "When cash flow managers get desperate."
|
14
posted on
02/14/2010 7:37:27 PM PST
by
Nick Danger
(Free cheese is found only in mousetraps)
To: Cacique
Nothing wrong here. I agree. New York banks can't play World Money Cop. If Greece wants to pull a little wool over the EU's eyes, that's not our problem. Somebody would loan them the money; might as well be our guys getting the $300 million. Besides, this author writes it up as if The Crime of the Century happened. Countries take out loans every day. If one of 'em hides it on their books, that's on them.
|
15
posted on
02/14/2010 7:41:25 PM PST
by
Nick Danger
(Free cheese is found only in mousetraps)
To: HiTech RedNeck
You are absolutely right!
16
posted on
02/14/2010 7:43:09 PM PST
by
rawhide
To: GeronL
17
posted on
02/14/2010 7:44:39 PM PST
by
Frantzie
(TV - sending Americans towards Islamic serfdom - Cancel TV service NOW)
To: stephenjohnbanker
I almost feel sorry for convicted bank robbers when I look at how Goldman profits from crime. In Florida last week a bank robber in his 70's was found robbing banks of a few hundred each to pay his mortgage... guess he didn't want to take too much from any one bank.
18
posted on
02/14/2010 7:47:34 PM PST
by
GOPJ
(Nobody likes to be lectured by those claiming superior wisdom but lacking common sense - - Hanson)
To: GOPJ
“In Florida last week a bank robber in his 70’s was found robbing banks of a few hundred each to pay his mortgage... guess he didn’t want to take too much from any one bank.”
Man, that IS sad.
19
posted on
02/14/2010 7:48:41 PM PST
by
stephenjohnbanker
(Support our troops, and vote out the RINOS)
To: Nick Danger
No, I wouldn’t put the blame for this shady deal on Goldman Sachs but on Greece. Still it’s troubling that they got inside information on a whole blooming COUNTRY having to take its skirts off by a hard deadline. People thinking about trading with Greece would like to know this sort of stuff, capisce? We can’t have the whole world going Greek on us without warning.
20
posted on
02/14/2010 7:49:50 PM PST
by
HiTech RedNeck
(I am in America but not of America (per bible: am in the world but not of it))
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson