The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)  has alleged that the huddles program of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”) - a practice where Goldman Sachs equity research analysts allegedly provided their best trading ideas to Goldman Sachs traders and a select group of Goldman Sachs top clients - created a serious and substantial risk that analysts would share material nonpublic information concerning their published research with Asymmetric Service Initiative (“ASI”) clients and firm traders. The SEC alleged that Goldman Sachs willfully violated Section 15(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), by failing to establish, maintain, and enforce adequate policies and procedures to prevent such misuse in light of the risks arising from the huddles and ASI. Without admitting or denying such violations, Goldman Sachs consented to the entry of an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings Pursuant to Sections 15(b) and 21C of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist Order on April 12, 2012 (the “ASI Order”) by the SEC pursuant to which Goldman Sachs (i) shall cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Section 15(g) of the Exchange Act; (ii) is censured; (iii) paid a total civil money penalty of $22 million on April 19, 2012, $11 million of which was paid to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in a related proceeding, and $11 million of which was paid to the SEC, and (iv) shall comply with certain other undertakings, including a comprehensive review, including recommendations, of the policies, procedures and practices maintained and implemented by Goldman Sachs pursuant to Section 15(g) of the Exchange Act that relate to the findings of the ASI Order.

Starting in July 2008, Neil M.M. Morrison (“Morrison”) was employed by Goldman Sachs to solicit municipal underwriting business from, among others, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Treasurer’s Office. From November 2008 to October 2010, Morrison was also substantially engaged in the political campaigns, including the November 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign, for Timothy P. Cahill (“Cahill”), the then-Treasurer of Massachusetts. Morrison worked on Cahill’s campaign during work hours using firm resources. Morrison also made a secret, undisclosed cash campaign contribution to Cahill. Within two years of Morrison’s contribution, Goldman Sachs engaged in municipal securities business with issuers associated with Cahill as Treasurer and as a candidate for Governor. The SEC alleged that Goldman Sachs’s engagement in municipal securities business with these issuers violated Section 15B(c)(1) of the Exchange Act and MSRB Rule G-37(b), and that Goldman Sachs’s failure to maintain records of and to report in regulatory filings the contributions and campaign work, and to take steps to ensure that the attributed contributions, or campaign work or the conflicts of interest raised by them were disclosed in bond offering documents, violated MSRB Rules G-8, G-9, G-17, G-27 and G-37. Without admitting or denying such violations (except as to the SEC’s jurisdiction over it and the subject matter of the proceedings), Goldman Sachs consented to the entry of an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Pursuant to Sections 15(b), 15B(c)(2) and 21C of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist Order on September 27, 2012 (the “Morrison Order”). Goldman Sachs agreed to cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Section 15B(c)(1) of the Exchange Act, MSRB Rule G-37(b), MSRB Rule G-17, MSRB Rule G-27, MSRB Rule G-37(e), MSRB Rule G-8 and MSRB Rule G-9. Goldman Sachs is censured and was required to pay disgorgement of $7,558,942 and prejudgment interest of $670,033. Of the $7,558,942 in disgorgement, $2,120,547 will be deemed satisfied by Goldman Sachs’s payment of $1,512,902 to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and $607,645 to the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust in a related action by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The remaining $5,438,395 and prejudgment interest of $670,033 was required to be paid to the SEC for remittance to the United States Treasury. Finally, the Morrison Order required Goldman Sachs to pay a civil money penalty in the amount of $3,750,000 to the SEC, of which $1,875,000 will be transferred to the MSRB in accordance with Section 15B(c)(9)(A) of the Exchange Act, and of which the remaining $1,875,000 will be transferred to the United States Treasury. The disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil money penalty were all paid in full by submission of a wire to the SEC on October 3, 2012, and by submission of checks to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust on October 4, 2012.

The SEC has alleged that Goldman Sachs conducted inadequate due diligence in certain offerings and, as a result, failed to form a reasonable basis for believing the truthfulness of certain material representations in official statements issued in connection with those offerings. This resulted in Goldman Sachs offering and selling municipal securities on the basis of materially misleading disclosure documents. The SEC alleged that Goldman Sachs willfully violated Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The violations discussed in the Order were self-reported by Goldman Sachs to the SEC pursuant to the Division of Enforcement’s Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative. Without admitting or denying the violations, Goldman Sachs consented to the entry of an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Pursuant to Section 8A of the Securities Act and Section 15(b) of the Exchange Act, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist Order on June 18, 2015 by the SEC pursuant to which Goldman Sachs: (I) shall cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act; (II) paid a civil money penalty in the amount of $500,000 on June 25, 2015; and (III) shall comply with the undertakings enumerated in the Order, including retaining an independent consultant to conduct a review of Goldman Sachs’s policies and procedures as they relate to municipal securities underwriting due diligence and requires Goldman Sachs to adopt the independent consultant’s recommendations (unless the SEC finds a recommendation unduly burdensome, impractical, or inappropriate, in which case Goldman Sachs shall not be required to abide by, adopt, or implement that recommendation).

The SEC has found that Goldman Sachs did not have a system of risk management controls and supervisory procedures reasonably designed to manage the financial, regulatory, and other risks of market access in relation to its listed equity options business, which contributed to the entry of erroneous electronic options orders on multiple options exchanges on August 20, 2013. The SEC found that Goldman Sachs willfully violated Section 15(c)(3) of the Exchange Act and Rule 15c3-5 thereunder in relation to its controls and supervisory procedures addressing (I) the entry of orders that exceed appropriate pre-set credit or capital thresholds; (II) the entry of erroneous orders that exceed appropriate price or size parameters or that indicate duplicative orders; and (III) the management of software changes that impact order flow. Without admitting or denying the violations, Goldman Sachs consented to the entry of an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, Pursuant to Sections 15(b) and 21C of the Exchange Act, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist Order on June 30, 2015 by the SEC pursuant to which Goldman Sachs: (I) shall cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Section 15(c)(3) of the Exchange Act and Rule 15c3-5 thereunder; (II) is censured; and (III) paid a total civil money penalty of $7 million on June 30, 2015.

The SEC alleged that Goldman Sachs violated Regulation SHO under the Exchange Act by improperly relying on Goldman Sachs’s automated locate function in the order management system without having confirmed the availability of the securities to be located.  In addition, the SEC alleged that Firm employees did not provide sufficient and accurate information with respect to these locates in Goldman Sachs’s locate log, which must reflect the basis upon which Goldman Sachs provided the locates. The SEC alleged that Goldman Sachs willfully violated Rule 203(b)(1) of Regulation SHO and Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act.  Without admitting or denying the violations, Goldman Sachs consented to the entry by the SEC of an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease-and-Desist Proceedings, pursuant to Sections 15(b) and 21C of the Exchange Act, Making Findings, and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and-Desist Order (Release No. 34-76899, Jan. 14, 2016).  Pursuant to the Order, Goldman Sachs must cease and desist from committing or causing any violations and any future violations of Rule 203(b)(1) of Regulation SHO, and any violations and any future violations of Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act and Rule 203(b)(1)(iii) thereunder relating to short sale locate records.  Also pursuant to the Order, Goldman Sachs was censured and paid a civil money penalty in the amount of $15,000,000 on January 20, 2016.  The SEC stated that, in determining to accept the Goldman Sachs’s offer of settlement, it considered certain remedial acts taken by Goldman Sachs.