Goldman Sachs fined over use of confidential documents

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36967923

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Goldman Sachs has been fined $36.3m (£27m) by the US Federal Reserve for using confidential documents improperly obtained from the central bank.

The Fed said Goldman Sachs had used documents, obtained by a former Fed employee, to brief clients during presentations.

Goldman Sachs has already paid New York regulators $50m over the same incident.

The case has highlighted the issue of staff moving between big banks and the agencies that regulate them.

According to the Fed, a former Goldman Sachs senior banker Joseph Jiampietro, asked a new, junior employee Rohit Bansal to obtain confidential documents from the Fed, where Mr Bansal had previously worked for eight years.

Those documents were then used to advise small and medium-sized banks on the Fed's decision making in 2014.

Both Mr Jiampietro and Mr Bansal were sacked after another colleague reported the incident to the compliance department.

In addition to the fine Goldman Sachs will have to put in place new oversight measures.

In a statement, the Fed said it "expects all firms, including Goldman Sachs, to comply with all US laws, rules, and regulations".

It added that Goldman Sachs must set up effective strategies for handling these types of incidents and ensure they are quickly brought to the attention of senior managers.

The Fed also announced it was instituting enforcement proceedings against Mr Jiampietro.