The Blubber

On Friday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a $6 million penalty against Goldman Sachs for providing incomplete and inaccurate trading information to the regulatory body.

Over a span of roughly 10 years, the banking giant made more than 22,000 deficient "blue sheet" submissions, impacting at least 163 million transactions, as detailed in an SEC order. The SEC routinely issues electronic requests, known as "blue sheets," to brokers to gather securities trading information for the identification of buyers and sellers.

Thomas P. Smith Jr., Associate Regional Director in the SEC's New York Regional Office, emphasized the importance of firms supplying comprehensive and accurate blue sheet data, stating, "Blue sheet data is vital to the Commission’s ability to carry out its enforcement and regulatory functions and to protect investors and maintain market integrity."

Goldman Sachs, acknowledging the findings, agreed to the imposed fine and censure.

"We are pleased to have resolved this matter," stated Abbey Collins, a spokesperson for Goldman Sachs. Collins added that Goldman is actively addressing the identified deficiencies and is in the process of resubmitting corrected electronic blue sheets (EBS) to the Commission.

Although the firm self-reported 29 of the 43 identified errors after an internal review, the SEC also determined that Goldman lacked sufficient internal processes to validate the accuracy of its blue sheet submissions.