The email also says that the rule applies to any “governor running for president or vice president, such as the Trump/Pence ticket”.
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The rule does not apply to the Democratic ticket: Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton now holds no elected office, and her running mate, Tim Kaine, is a US senator, and not a state official.
The new rules at Goldman don’t restrict contributions to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, because she now doesn’t hold office. Donations to Trump and Pence’s PACs and Super PACs supporting them are also banned. Tim Kaine, whose position does not fall under the new prohibitions.
Goldman’s new rules apply to about 450 of Goldman’s high-ranking employees called “partners”. Blankfein, the CEO, is a partner, for example.
The Securities and Exchange Commission enacted the pay-to-play rule in 2010 after a series of scandals involving money managers accused of trying to improperly influence state officials to win investment-management business. Goldman Sachs is concerned about violating the pay-to-play regulations because it’s already been fined for doing so – in 2012, the firm was punished over contributions to MA state treasurer Timothy Cahill, who at the time was running for governor.
Trump doesn’t have much to lose.
Goldman’s email does not specifically mention Donald Trump or his political activity.
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Goldman Sachs already requires all employees to get approval for proposed political contributions, according to a corporate governance statement, to screen for possible violations. Goldman employees also donated $371,245 to the Republican National Committee. Goldman Sachs had earlier agreed to pay $14.4 million. The speech in 2013 was one of three Clinton gave at Goldman Sachs events. Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell and Robert Gates have all received payment from Goldman Sachs. In 2013, a former investment banker agreed to be barred from the securities industry for five years and pay $100,000 to resolve USA claims that he made improper contributions to the Treasurer of MA at the same time he was seeking state underwriting business. That’s because they hope that a Clinton presidency would come with Republican control of Congress and be hit by gridlock, with little chance of new Wall Street-targeted laws.
