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| Jon Macaskill is one of the leading capital markets and derivatives journalists, with over 20 years’ experience covering financial markets from London and New York. Most recently he worked at one of the biggest global investment banks |
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The revolving door between Wall Street and Washington is not working to the industry’s specifications. Robert Khuzami, former general counsel for the Americas at Deutsche Bank, has been leading the charge against Goldman Sachs over alleged CDO fraud in his new role as head of enforcement at the SEC. And Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs partner, has taken an unexpectedly tough line with the industry over derivatives reform in his position as head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Bank heads could be forgiven for feeling that with friends like these, who needs enemies?
The relationship between ex-bankers who move into government and their former employers was always more nuanced than the popular conception that gave birth to the phrase "Government Sachs".
But the enduring importance bankers place on personal contacts with senior political figures was underscored when Goldman hired recently departed White House counsel Greg Craig – a former Obama confidant – to help defend the bank against the SEC’s CDO fraud charges.
