Goldman Sachs (GS) Plans To Enter Swiss Mortgage Market

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) is mulling to enter the Swiss mortgage market, and is in talks with the country’s market regulator, per an article by Reuters.

Stefan Bollinger, head of equities department at Goldman, said that the move would be in sync with the bank’s pan-European strategy. He stated that the company doesn’t expect to make a big investment in the Swiss mortgage business at present.

He also disclosed that the company does not plan to introduce Marcus — Goldman’s digital bank — in Switzerland.

Recently, Goldman was in news for plans to cut back its Commodities trading business, which used to be a major source of revenues for it. However, no final decision has been made by the executives so far.

The decision to pull back from commodities came after months of review conducted on Goldman’s businesses. The move was proposed by the new chief executive officer David Solomon, with a view to control costs and tap on areas that could generate higher profits.

While Goldman is on track to remodel its business into a more profitable organization, it continues to be face investigations over its role in helping to raise funds for the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). The Malaysian government has filed corruption and money laundering charges against Goldman and two former employees in connection with the probe.

In this regard, the bank disclosed that it has added a new forfeiture provision in its annual compensation plans that would give it the permission to reduce the size of the “award prior to payment and/or forfeit the underlying transfer-restricted shares."

It plans to hold back distribution of bonuses worth at least $7 million to the top executives until investigations related to the Goldman’s role in the 1MDB scandal are completed.

Shares of the company have lost around 17% in the past six months compared with the 13.3% decline of the industry.

Goldman currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

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