Moody’s assigns Aa3 rating to Goldman Sachs’ European Banks
Moody’s Investors Service assigned first time ratings of Aa3 for long-term deposits and B for financial strength to both Goldman Sachs Bank (Europe) plc (GSBE) and Goldman Sachs Private Bank Ltd (GSPB). The rating outlook for both banks is stable.
GSBE and GSPB, located and licensed in Ireland, are wholly owned banking subsidiaries of the Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The banks were created to further Goldman’s goal of offering select banking services to its high-net-worth and institutional clients that first started in 2006 with the establishment of Goldman Sachs Bank USA (rated Aa3/B by Moody’s). GSBE and GSPB will raise most of their initial funding by sweeping existing money market fund balances held by Goldman’s long-standing private clients into bank deposits. Both banks will rely extensively on the Goldman Sachs Group for infrastructure, deposit and loan origination, and risk management. — www.theasianbanker.com (December 28 2007)–