Goldman to close principal strategies desk-report-UPDATE 2

Trade the News

Friday September 03, 2010 09:40:18 AM GMT

* Moving to comply with 'Volcker rule' - Bloomberg

* Goldman Sachs declines to comment on report

* Other Wall Street banks changing trading units (Adds more background on new law, changes in industry)

NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc is closing its principal strategies desk as it works to comply with new U.S. rules on proprietary trading, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

The report, citing two people with knowledge of the decision, said Goldman would delay announcing the move as 65 to 70 members of the unit sought new jobs. Some traders and support staff could be reassigned within the firm, and a team in Asia could look to start a new hedge fund, it said.

Goldman Sachs spokesman Ed Canaday declined to comment on the report.

Goldman would be the latest Wall Street bank to change its trading business to comply with the "Volcker rule," which limits the extent to which banks can bet with their own capital.

A source on Tuesday said JPMorgan Chase & Co had told commodities traders who bet with the bank's money that their desk would be shut down as the bank moved to comply with new laws.

Banks have time to comply with the law, but many have been eager to quickly draw up plans before antsy traders jump to hedge funds.

As banks have looked to restructure, the focus has been on Goldman because of the size of its desk. Goldman has said that as much as 10 percent of its revenue comes from proprietary trading.

Goldman explored multiple options for the desk in the aftermath of the new U.S. financial reform law.

One option Goldman had was to spin off the desk into a separate fund that would raise its own capital from investors, people familiar with the process said last month.

Another option was to shift the unit's employees into Goldman's asset management business, where they would become part of a $7 billion internal hedge fund that manages money for the firm's wealthy customers. (Reporting by Steve Eder; editing by John Wallace and Gerald E. McCormick)

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