The SEC’s $550 million settlement with Goldman Sachs fraud is naturally being celebrated by the feds as a major victory, “the largest penalty ever assessed against a financial services firm in the history of the SEC.” Maybe. I think there’s another way to look at it.

Goldman’s net income was more than $13 billion in 2009. So $550 million is about just two weeks’ worth of earnings. Looks like Goldman figured a two-week furlough was a pretty modest price to pay to give the SEC its headline, without admitting wrongdoing, and move on.

Did anyone at the SEC think about the public benefits of a trial, in terms of sustained media scrutiny of Wall Street’s unsavory practices, whatever the outcome? Did anyone tote up the two weeks of earnings figure? Looks at first blush like another pretty smart Goldman trade.

source: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/07/sec_settlement_is_a_major_vict.html