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Is a 5B settlement a slap on the wrist? Goldman's yearly revenue is 40B a year, while profit is ~8B last year and may be closer to 4-5B this year. Would it be b
by eanzenberg 11y ago
Is a 5B settlement a slap on the wrist? Goldman's yearly revenue is 40B a year, while profit is ~8B last year and may be closer to 4-5B this year. Would it be better if they were sued out of existence? Is this enough penalty for them to never to it again in the future? Could the gov't legally be able to get more?
- askyourmother 11y agoYes. When the fine is less than the overall profit, and they can write it off via taxes, then it is not even a tickle on the wrist. CEO, every member of the board, every manager in that division that made and sold the products, fine 100% of their pay, fine 4x revenue - not profits for the products affected, and do not let them write the costs off.
- ack 11y agoIs this fine tax deductible? What, then, is even the point?
- kolbe 11y agoGetting to write articles like this to make prosecutors look good, and for people feel like big bad Goldman Sachs is getting hurt. Here's another thing to grind your gears: much of the fine will be paid in "consumer relief," which so far has meant a tax writeoff upfront, then negligible consumer relief.
- IkmoIkmo 11y agoNo, it's not tax deductible. Even if it is tax deductible, 'all' you're getting is a tax shield of your tax rate, if it's 30%, you still pay 70% of the fine. That's still about 50% of their annual net profit. It's nowhere near enough to me, but to say a 30% discount on a fine makes the fine pointless is exaggerated. Either way though, no it's not tax deductible.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- andmarios 11y agoWhilst 5B is a huge sum, will it deter GS executives from repeating the act in the future? Will the people responsible go to jail or pay from their personal wealth -made due to their "bad" desicions?
- a3n 11y ago> Is a 5B settlement a slap on the wrist? Yes it is, since no one went to jail (I'm assuming).
- heimatau 11y agoThe govt getting 5B isn't the people getting any money they would've gotten. A penalty paid to the govt isn't paid to those who's wealth was reduced.