Goldman Sachs to go private?

Let's say the Volcker plan erects something like a Glass-Steagall separation. What would Goldman Sachs (GS) do? A lot of people are speculating already about the prospects of the gilded firm going private? One chief investment officer told Reuters flat out: "Goldman is already in the process of figuring out how to go private." I'm not sure how this source would know, but the thought is definitely in the air.

It strikes me as premature, however. The Volcker plan has not been fully sketched out, and it would on the surface appear to hit Goldman Sachs less than other banks that are more commercial-investment bank hybrids. Goldman Sachs doesn't have a lot of FDIC-insured accounts, and it could always give up its bank holding company charter. One issue may be principal investments. Would this get caught up in some sort of ban on private equity investment activity? The bank has shrewdly used its principal investment prowess to book big gains--at the rate of about one per quarter before the crisis hit.

Still, it doesn't seem logical to ban this sort of activity by a bank that chooses to be a non-FDIC type of bank. Is there a reason why Goldman would want to hang on to this status? All in all, there just aren't enough specifics as to what the regulatory landscape will be. But the firm may have some back-up plans on the table just in case. That's entirely possible. 

For more:
- here's the article

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