Cohen is a protege of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. In 2010, Cohen went on to establish technology incubator Jigsaw. His recruitment is the most recent step taken by Goldman Sachs to inject a technology focus into the bank.
Cohen is set to lead the group, known as the Office of Applied Innovation, alongside co-chief information officer George Lee.
“Working closely with leaders across Goldman Sachs, George and Jared will specifically identify and advance commercial opportunities for the firm that are at the intersection of a changing global marketplace, shifts in the geopolitical landscape and rapidly evolving technology,” Solomon said.
Cohen will be joining New York-based Goldman Sachs at its senior-most rank, serving as a partner, management committee member and also as president of global affairs.
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However, the funds obtained as part of the extension will not be able to be used by the club for summer transfer market activity, insiders have reported without official confirmation.
Barcelona FC originally agreed on a deal with Goldman Sachs to fund the redevelopment of Camp Nou, but quickly discovered the amount borrowed was not merely sufficient. Now, further funding has been secured by the club, which will be made available in 2023, as the agreed expiration date on their prior loan agreement has already expired.
Further Financial Difficulties
Goldman Sachs initially agreed to loan €815 million to beleaguered Barcelona FC in order to cover the costs of dangerously overdue redevelopment works to the Camp Nou stadium and the surrounding area. The funds were secured by Barcelona with a bridging loan of €90m.
Organised under the Josep Maria Bartomeu administration at the club, the original loan was increased to €1.5bn by successor Joan Laporta last year, as costs quickly began to spiral beyond initial projections.
The project was hampered by further complications brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic, which also rendered it impossible for Barcelona FC to repay its bridging loan. The €90m bridging facility was initially supposed to be repaid in 2021, and then again in February this year.
Now, Barcelona FC has revealed that not only has the term on their bridging loan been extended once again, but that its value has been doubled to €180m. Issued subject to fresh terms and conditions, work on Camp Nou, pushed back several times due to the COVID-19 crisis, must now start no later than this year’s offseason, and must be completed in full by 2025.
However, the project is expected to face further complications and delays due to the rising cost of materials and general material shortages, brought about by the escalating crisis in Ukraine. It, therefore, remains to be seen whether Barcelona FC can keep to the updated terms and conditions of its agreement with Goldman Sachs.
Restricted Allocation Of Funds
The updated terms and conditions of the agreement are said to rule out the use of any of the funds provided to sign new players and bring fresh faces into the squad.
The club has spoken on several occasions about how they cannot currently afford to buy any new players, and that La Liga rules are making it difficult to register new team members. All funds issued by Goldman Sachs must be used exclusively for Camp Nou renovations, making it difficult to predict a successful season to come from Barcelona FC.
Facilitated by Goldman Sachs, the unnamed top investor sold 599 million shares on Monday evening, approximately equivalent to a 3.6% stake. This comes as a further knock to the British bank after it revealed a compliance error for overselling structured products in the US that led to a loss of around £450 million.
On Tuesday, Barclays shares were down at 3.3% after falling 4% on Monday.
According to Eikon data, Monday also saw Capital Group, one of the world’s largest investment firms, sell 399 million Barclays shares. However, there’s presently no proof to suggest the move by Capital Group was connected to the top investor’s $1.2 billion sale.
Other key Barclays shareholders include Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Blackrock. According to Eikon data, these each have an approximate 3% stake in the British bank.
The US bank’s latest move makes it the first major Wall Street institution to follow through with a strict Covid-19 vaccine mandate, having announced intentions to do so back in October.
Citigroup’s decision comes as the financial industry struggles with how to return employees to offices safely amid rapidly rising cases of the Omicron variant of the virus. Other major Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs & Co, have told unvaccinated staff to work remotely, but have not yet gone as far as firing employees.
So far, over 90% of Citigroup employees have complied with the mandate. While Citigroup is the first Wall Street bank to enforce such a strict vaccine mandate, other major US companies, such as Google and United Airlines, have also introduced “no jab, no job” policies.
This year, benchmark natural gas prices in Europe and the UK have tripled, with the price increase meaning higher energy costs for companies and more costly bills for consumers. It is expected that the sudden rise will eat into the profits of numerous energy companies over the coming months and will pressure net profit margins which are already at their highest since 2008.
Strong commodity and carbon prices, low gas reserves, increased global demand, and low wind output are all thought to be to blame for the sudden jump in energy prices.
Goldman Sachs has already warned that rocketing prices are exposing the risk of power outages in the winter months, with Europe already struggling to refill storage facilities in time for the colder weather.
This year, the UK’s reliance on imports has also increased. This may potentially be due, in part, to the lower demand for resources seen amid the start of the pandemic. Gas imports from Norway, for example, surpassed the UK’s own domestic production over the first half of 2021.
On Monday, Goldman Sachs announced it has launched its transaction bank in Britain, despite the US banking giant previously warning that a troublesome Brexit would negatively impact its funding in the nation. After launching the business in the US last year, Goldman Sachs is keen to expand as it seeks stable sources of revenue beyond its investment banks.
Goldman Sachs has said its US transaction banking business has already attracted over 250 clients since June last year. The company has seen over $35 billion in deposits and has had trillions processed through its systems. Goldman Sachs is excited to bring transaction banking to the UK as it expands its client reach.
The US banking giant is attempting to compete with rivals such as JPMorgan, which already offers a wide selection of services to corporate clients. Goldman Sachs hopes to attract clients who are currently using older systems to its new digital cash management systems.
Wall Street Journal reports that according to a source familiar with the company’s plans Google plans on adding checking accounts to its consumer offerings, essentially allowing people to bank with Google, as opposed to their traditional high street bank.
Very little information has been confirmed so far but we do know that Citigroup and the Stanford Federal Credit Union are set to run the accounts under the Google banner, but branded as the financial institutions’ names, rather than the proprietor, Google.
According to several reports, Caesar Sengupta, an executive at Google told WSJ Google does not intend to sell any customer data on the back of its advance into the consumer banking landscape. “If we can help more people do more stuff in a digital way online, it’s good for the internet and good for us,” Sengupta said.
Google is of course not the first Silicon valley giant to dip its toes in the banking game, as we saw Apple reveal plans for the Apple card this year. It has however already faced several issues in getting this project off the ground, from its relationship with Goldman Sachs, who runs the card, to scandals of sexism in its algorithms as of late. Facebook also delved into the financial landscape with its payments operation and the introduction of Libra, which has already lost the majority of its support over regulatory concerns and uncertainty in the crypto sphere.
If Google plans on stepping into the banking landscape and challenging the current status quo, which in turn is already disrupted by challenger banks and fintech start-ups, it will have to move quickly and without any hiccups. Perhaps we could see a Google bank or Bank of Google in the near future. Keep your eyes peeled.
Complaints have made the headlines insinuating Apple Card’s credit limits may have been different for men and women, making their overall offering inherently sexist.
New York's Department of Financial Services (DFS) has been in touch with Goldman Sachs, which operates Apple’s credit cards, stating that any discrimination, intentional or not, "violates New York law."
Even Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak said in a tweet that the algorithms used to arrange customer credit limits may be inherently biased against women, and last week Bloomberg reported that tech entrepreneur David Heinemeier Hansson issued complaints that the Apple Card allowed him 20 times the credit limit that it allowed his wife, despite her having a better credit score.
Mr Hansson recently tweeted: "Apple Card is a sexist program. It does not matter what the intent of individual Apple reps are, it matters what THE ALGORITHM they've placed their complete faith in does. And what it does is discriminate."
The DFS issued a statement to assure it would be "conducting an investigation to determine whether New York law was violated and ensure all consumers are treated equally regardless of sex."
"Any algorithm that intentionally or not results in discriminatory treatment of women or any other protected class violates New York law."
Goldman Sachs also told Bloomberg: "Our credit decisions are based on a customer's creditworthiness and not on factors like gender, race, age, sexual orientation or any other basis prohibited by law."
With the indictment of two former senior Goldman Sachs bankers, accused by US prosecutors of paying bribes, stealing and laundering money from a Malaysian sovereign-wealth fund, the Wall Street giant finds itself at the center of one of the world's largest-ever financial scandals.
