Goldman Sachs is different

November 24, 2009 | By Jim Kim

When John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley (MS), apologized for his bank's role in the credit crunch while visiting Congress, the move generated little controversy. Some people even praised the move.

When Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein stood before a bunch of corporate directors and said, "We're a leader in our industry, and we participated in things that were clearly wrong and we have reasons to regret and apologize for," it was greeted with loud hoots and lots of skepticism. This may be a matter of timing and news cycles.

Blankfein's comments came on the heels of his "doing God's work" quip (I still think he was kidding), which really ignited the storm, but there's also something different about Goldman Sachs. We see it as distinct from the other firms. Frankly, a lot of people have higher expectations. No one could foresee the type of PR nightmare this has turned into. But the banks cannot take this lightly. Nor can it be seen as trying to buy sympathy and support.

The New York Times called its small business foray, "Crumbs from its table." Charles Gasparino is calling for Blankfein to step down. This is very tricky. The PR mavens at the firm are on the hot seat too.

For more:
- here's a scathing editorial from the New York Times