Goldman Sachs always gets its way

The clue may come from a February 5 letter by the Federal Reserve to Goldman CAO Sarah Smith. The letter had come in response to GS requests for “temporary exemptions from the application of certain aspects of the Board’s Market Risk Rules for state member banks and bank holding companies and the Board’s general risk-based capital rules for bank holding companies.” Basically through the end of 2009 Goldman is basically using non-traditional. SEC approved VaR models as can be seen here:

via Why Does Goldman Need A Fed Exemption For VaR Calculations? | zero hedge.

Is Goldman Screwing Taxpayers in TARP Negotiations?

Alas, no one would tell me what the government is asking for the warrants or what Goldman is offering for them. “We are in discussions with the Treasury on the buyback of the warrant,” said Goldman spokesman Lucas VanPraag. “The purchase price has yet to be determined…. We believe that taxpayers should get a decent return, and we hope that our discussions with the Treasury will do just that.” The Treasury declined comment.

My estimate — okay, my SWAG (for scientific wild-assed guess) — is that the Treasury is asking for $1 billion to $1.5 billion and Goldman is offering $500 million or so.

Under the law, Goldman, like other early TARP repayers, has the right to force the Treasury to sell back the warrants after a lengthy set of price arbitrations.

via Goldman Sachs pulls a dumb move by squabbling over TARP - Jul. 17, 2009.