Goldman Sachs (GS) is letting 20 analysts go after finding out they had cheated on internal training tests, Bloomberg reports.
The analysts had worked in the securities divisions in various global offices, including London and New York. Sources told Bloomberg that some of them have already been dismissed while others are in the process of leaving.
It’s common for Wall Street bankers to help one another with basic training and compliance tests that are often time consuming and repetitive. Banks have started cracking down on this practice in the face of increase scrutiny from regulators.
Sebastian Howell, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson in London, told Bloomberg: “This conduct was not just a clear violation of the rules, but completely inconsistent with the values we foster at the firm.”
Goldman Sachs has recently become Wall Street’s least valued bank. It was once one of the nation’s most impressive financial firms with an over 20% return on equity, the report said, but in recent days that number has been cut in half. Shares have fallen about 10% this year resulting in a price-to-earnings ration of 8.8, the lowest P/E ratio of any of the nation’s largest banks.