Goldman sues 7 former execs over C. Suisse move

UPDATE 1-Goldman sues 7 former execs over C. Suisse move

Thu Feb 18, 2010 8:56am EST

* Defendants broke non-solicitation deal - court papers (Adds 'no comment' from Credit Suisse)

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) sued seven of its former private wealth management division executives for abruptly leaving the company to join rival Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) early this month, U.S. court documents show.

Three investment professionals at the vice-president level, two associates and two managers left Goldman Sachs on Feb. 5 to join Credit Suisse, which had induced the team with tens of millions of dollars for the defection, Goldman said in the court filing.

Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) declined to comment, while Goldman Sachs (GS.N) was not immediately available for comment.

The defendants, who worked at Goldman's Atlanta office, immediately began soliciting Goldman's clients and employees in violation of the non-solicitation agreement agreed to by them, Goldman said in the documents.

One of the defendants, David Greene, had informed Goldman's Atlanta office head David Fox that Credit Suisse had agreed to pay him $11 million to join the firm, the documents show.

The other six defendants listed in the complaint are Craig Savage, Andrew Thompson, Sharran Srivatsaa, John Pitt, Stephanie Dennard and Kim Tyson.

In the complaint, Goldman requested the court restrain the defendants from using or disclosing Goldman's proprietary information and to return any company documents that they may have.

The case is In re: Goldman, Sachs & Co. v. Greene et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Georgia, No. 1:10-cv-00453.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore and Catherine Bosley in Zurich; Editing by Erica Billingham) link

Goldman Sachs spends $690,000 to lobby government

NEW YORK

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. spent $690,000 during the fourth quarter to lobby the federal government on issues related to regulating the banking industry.

The $690,000 spent compares with $530,000 the New York-based bank spent during the same quarter a year earlier when the credit crisis was peaking. Goldman spent $840,000 to lobby the government during the third quarter.

Goldman Sachs has been heavily scrutinized by politicians and regulators because it quickly returned to profitability after receiving $10 billion in government bailout money in late 2008. It also has sparked public angst about big bonuses it pays to its employees.

The bank did repay the $10 billion it received as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program last summer.

In the final three months of 2009, Goldman spent money to lobby Congress, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Export-Import Bank of the United States. Those efforts are focused on regulatory reform, derivatives trading, financial risk management, executive compensation, accounting rules, international taxes, small-business lending and export-import bank financing. link