Goldman Sachs collected nearly $3bn (£1.9bn) from bailed-out US insurer American International Group (AIG) as a payout on bets it placed on its own account – with the bulk coming directly from taxpayers after AIG's rescue.
The revelation was made in the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) report into 2008's financial meltdown.
According to the US government-sponsored FCIC, AIG's $182bn bailout was necessary because the insurer's collapse threatened "cascading losses and collapses" throughout the financial system.
Goldman received $12.9bn of the bailout funds – a move that drew heavy criticism and allegations of cronyism. The then treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, had previously been Goldman's chief executive.
Much of that money went to Goldman clients. The FCIC breaks down exactly how much Goldman itself received and showed it got $2.9bn for "proprietary trades" – trades made on its own account.
Of those funds, $1.9bn was paid after AIG had received its enormous taxpayer bailout.
"Thus, unlike the $14bn received from AIG on trades in which Goldman owed the money to its own counterparties, this $2.9bn was retained by Goldman," the report states. Wall Street sources strongly disagreed with the FCIC's characterisation of the Goldman transactions.