3 ms·

I think the problem here is considering penalties an expense.

• jonknee 10y ago
  The actual penalty portion isn't an expense, but the full number includes billions of other stuff that is ($2.4b in "consumer relief"). Goldman essentially gets to write off the community service portion of their punishment. On the flip side, the government gets to brag about such a large settlement. It's not a sketchy deal or actually even unusual.
  • Vraxx 10y ago
    There's also the benefit of not having to do any appropriation of funds in congress for the consumer relief portion to actually be paid to the consumers that it is relieving. No possibility of that money not going directly to what it is being extracted from Goldman Sachs to do.
  • jsprogrammer 10y ago
    >The actual penalty portion isn't an expense... >...gets to write off the community service portion of their punishment. If it is a punishment (a bank handing out money counts as community service in these courts?) it is a penalty.