For years, the MTA has worked with financial giant Goldman Sachs on bond sales and other financial matters, but according to reports, the authority has opted to sever its relationship with the scandal-plagued company. Officials contend that Goldman’s recent legal troubles have nothing to do with the decision to drop a company that has made nearly $30 million off of the MTA since 2000. Instead, Board members have grown increasingly wary of Goldman’s handling of MTA assets. The financial giant had invested MTA money in, according to The Times, “assets that are considered more volatile than traditional fixed income arrangements,” and MTA officials did not approve of these risky interest rate swaps.
The writing was apparently on the wall for Goldman when its contract lapsed last year without a renewal. In February, the finance company dropped out of the Hudson Yards project as well. Said Gene Russianoff of this uncoupling, “The only entity in America that is less popular than the M.T.A. is Goldman Sachs.”