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Goldman Sachs on Wednesday said earnings fell by a whopping 58% in the second quarter as the Wall Street giant blamed a retreat from consumer businesses and declining investment values for its worst results in three years.

The dreadful performance still managed to fall short of Wall Street estimates — even after Goldman boss David Solomon warned analysts in the run-up to the earnings release that they should lower their expectations.

Goldman reported that it earned $3.08 a share — lower than the $3.18 analysts had predicted.

The bank’s revenue plummeted 8% to $10.9 billion, according to the report.

“This moment in the economic cycle creates meaningful headwinds for Goldman Sachs,” Solomon told analysts on a conference call. “We are making tough decisions that are driving the strategic evolution of the firm. Given both these factors, it should come as no surprise that we’re going to a period of lower results.”

Solomon did highlight seeing positive signs on the horizon in investment banking.

“It definitely feels better over the course of the last six, eight weeks,” Solomon told analysts on a conference call. “This is obviously a tough quarter,” but he added “the environment feels better.”

He cited activity picking up in equity capital markets and a revival of client discussions on mergers and acquisitions.

Goldman shares closed up 1% at $340.55.

“The bar was relatively low heading into the quarter,” wrote Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz. “When we compare the results against our estimates, we find that core trends were generally positive,” helped by equities financing and investment banking.

The results were the bank’s worst since the second quarter of 2020, when it took writedowns over a corruption scandal linked to Malaysian state fund 1MDB.

Goldman took a $504 million hit tied to its GreenSky business, which facilitates home improvement loans to consumers, and $485 million related to its real estate investments.

Goldman agreed to acquire GreenSky for $2.2 billion in 2021 and later closed the deal at $1.7 billion.

The bank also took $615 million in credit losses including writedowns related to its consumer loans and business.

Goldman’s Marcus unit was also folded into its merged asset and wealth management arm last year, as the investment bank began pulling back from retail banking.

Goldman’s terrible quarter looked even worse compared to rivals JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, which all reported strong earnings in the past week.

JPMorgan announced it raked in $14 billion in profit in the second quarter despite CEO Jamie Dimons dire predictions for the economy, which has been saddled with sky-high levels of inflation in recent years.

Goldman’s results are likely to ratchet up pressure on Solomon, whose leadership and management style have been called into question by partners and rank-and-file employees.

Last month, The Post was the first to report that Goldman’s board was beginning to re-evaluate Solomon in the wake of an exodus of top talent from the Wall Street firm.

Since Solomon took the helm in 2018, Goldman partners have complained over their skimpy bonuses, his costly venture into consumer banking, and his side hustle as a DJ.

With Post wires

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Kraken co-CEO warns UK rules meant to protect users now punish them: FT

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Kraken co-CEO warns UK rules meant to protect users now punish them: FT

Arjun Sethi, the co-CEO of major crypto exchange Kraken, criticized the United Kingdom’s crypto regulations, which he believes hinder services for their customers.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Sethi said that “in the UK today, if you go to any crypto website, including Kraken’s, you see the equivalent to a cigarette box.” He suggested that the disclaimers have a significant impact on customer experience.

Sethi suggested that disclosures slow users down and that, because of the importance of speed in crypto trading, “it’s worse for customers.” He concluded that “disclosures are important […] but if there are 14 steps, it’s worse.”

The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) updated financial promotion regime came into force in October 2023. It introduced a “cooling-off” period for first-time crypto investors and requires firms to assess whether users have sufficient knowledge and experience before trading.

Sethi said that the rules may prompt customers to avoid investing in crypto altogether, potentially leading to missed potential gains. The FCA defended the rules, noting that “some consumers may make an informed decision that investing in crypto is not right for them — that is our rules working as intended.”

Kraken, UK Government, Cryptocurrency Exchange, United Kingdom
Example of disclaimer from the Kraken website. Source: Kraken

Related: ClearToken gets FCA nod for crypto settlement platform amid UK rules push

The UK is slowly opening to crypto

Despite frustrations with the FCA, the UK appears to be moving toward a broader alignment with the United States on digital-asset oversight.

Lisa Cameron, a former United Kingdom Member of Parliament and founder of the UK-US Crypto Alliance, said she believes a joint “sandbox” between the UK and the US is in development to align their crypto markets.

She came to this conclusion after discussion with US Senators and regulators and expects the sandbox’s purpose to be to “iron out some of this in terms of passporting” for crypto licenses between the UK and the US.

On Monday, the Bank of England published a consultation paper proposing a regulatory framework for stablecoins. The new legislation is focused on sterling-denominated “systemic stablecoins” widely used in payments, similar to the US’s GENIUS Act.

Related: British crypto firm KR1 eyes London Stock Exchange as UK warms to industry: FT

UK looks to the US for an example on crypto

A crypto collaboration between the UK and the US is not a new phenomenon. September reports noted that treasury authorities in the US and UK created a transatlantic task force to explore “short-to-medium term collaboration on digital assets.” Also in September, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed how the two nations could strengthen their coordination on crypto.

September also saw UK trade groups urge the UK government to include blockchain technology in a technology collaboration with the US program known as “Tech Bridge.” A joint letter by the organization warned that “excluding digital assets from the UK-US Tech Bridge would be a missed opportunity,” and that it “risks leaving Britain on the sidelines.”

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