How the ongoing Goldman Sachs drama plays out after the revelation of a federal investigation is anybody’s guess. But here’s a fresh dimension to Wall Street’s latest horror story–the strong likelihood that Goldman’s 55-year-old chief, Lloyd Blankfein, will be booted out. Some people in the Securities and Exchange Commission, I’m told authoritatively, want his scalp, given what they perceive as Goldman’s shady practices.
Tom Ajamie, a securities lawyer in Houston, contends Goldman now has a major image problem and its current difficulties will probably lead to more investigations both here and abroad. “I’m sure,” he says, “that any institution which lost money on a Goldman deal is having an attorney re-examine it to see if there was any conflict of interest or any information hidden when the deal was done.” Ajamie believes Goldman will have image damage for at least four and five years during which “it will lose business for sure.”