Goldman Sachs has amassed a war chest of $164bn (€124bn, £110bn) in cash and liquid assets that could be used to buy distressed securities and loans as its rivals clear their balance sheets, Goldman's chief financial officer said yesterday.
David Viniar spoke as the bank completed the sale of $5bn in common stock – at $123 per share – which it plans to use to pay back some $10bn from the government's troubled asset relief programme (Tarp). The sale price represented a 5.5 per cent discount to Monday's close. Goldman shares yesterday were down 6.3 per cent at $121.92 in midday trading in New York.
Speaking a day after Goldman reported $1.81bn in first-quarter earnings, Mr Viniar said the bank's liquid assets, which rose more than $50bn in the first quarter, could also be put to defensive use if the crisis worsened.