Goldman Sachs readies hiring spree, capital to resume China ambitions

Goldman Sachs Group has spoken publicly only in broad strokes about its strategy for China as the gates come down this year.

The news swept through Goldman’s offices around China, changing everything.

On a Friday afternoon in late 2017, an official in Beijing announced that the world’s most populous nation would let Wall Street banks expand across its markets. Goldman had spent more than a decade waiting in frustration for that chance. Regional bosses including James Paradise and Todd Leland urgently worked the phones, pinning down details to inform headquarters in New York.

Since then, Goldman Sachs Group has spoken publicly only in broad strokes about its strategy for China as the gates come down this year. But inside the firm, a massive effort is taking shape. Three months ago, a team of executives presented a five-year plan for China to the board, calling for the bank to take control of a joint venture it set up with a Chinese securities firm in 2004. Infused with hundreds of millions of dollars in new capital, the unit would embark on a hiring spree to double its workforce to 600 and ramp up a wide variety of businesses.

The strategy—described by senior Goldman executives and others familiar with the plan — shows how Chief Executive Officer David Solomon and President John Waldron are taking up the mantle once carried by former CEO Hank Paulson, betting China will finally make the world’s second-largest economy a more level playing field for foreign investment banks. Last year, they traveled to China seven times to meet senior officials, laying the groundwork. Another round of visits is set for 2020.

“We’re increasingly optimistic that we’re going to have the opportunity to actually move more in the right direction, maybe even faster than we thought,” Waldron said in an interview last week. “If you’re going to have a successful business in China, you need to have an appropriate relationship with the government because so much happening in China relates to the government.”

Business Standard

Elections 2019: What really wins you an election? Noida may have the answer

Cash, charity or caste may not help unless your constituents see you and your tangible development work in the constituency.

Article Source BS : Caste? Cash? Charity?

Take Gautam Buddh Nagar (or Noida) Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls on 11 April. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s sitting candidate is Dr Mahesh Sharma, an amiable doctor who owns a huge hospital in the heart of NOIDA and is currently Union Minister of Culture.

In 2014, there was universal endorsement of Sharma. ‘He really takes care of us’ said a constituent fervently. ‘whenever there is any medical crisis, we know we can fall back on Kailash Hospital (Dr Sharma’s hospital) for treatment.’ Sharma would offer treatment at highly subsidised rates to people for his constituency, especially if they came with local references.

It was charity.

It worked in 2014. Sharma won by a margin of over 3 lakh votes, defeating Samajwadi Party’s Narendra Bhati, on the back of charity. There was also the Modi wave.

In theory the Modi charisma should work this time too. But last week, when Sharma visited rural areas, specifically Mirzapur village in Dankaur district, he was told to go back – that he had done nothing for the villages. Rural areas – Dadri, Jewar and Dankaur - hold the key to victory in Noida. Against an average turnout of 67 per cent, the urban areas in Noida -residential colonies around the malls and the cinema halls – reported a turnout of around 51 per cent, telling its own tale about the lack of interest in politics in urban India.

Caste too plays a big role. The biggest chunk of the rural population of farmers is Gujjar. This time, Satveer Nagar is the joint Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party candidate – and he is going to file his nomination on 22 March, a day after Holi. There is some presence of Thakurs and on the back of that, Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj won an assembly segment in the UP assembly elections. But his father has dismissed all speculation of being fielded from Noida: he will contest from Lucknow, he has said, quite firmly.

Cash – or rather wealth – has played a big role in the elections. Holdings in this part of UP are not small: and they are worth a LOT of money. These are not cowering farmers at the mercy of the elements. They are wealthy and most of them have other sources of hefty income, mostly rental income. Many have sold their land and some own Land Rovers and Audi cars.

In the circumstances, Dr Sharma is finding the going a bit tough. He has just come out with a glossy booklet listing his achievements, among them being claiming the credit for the Jewar airport, and extensions to the Metro. But the decision to extend the metro line was not solely at his behest. And the Jewar airport will take years to build.