Goldman Sachs reportedly is in the process of throwing its own employees out of its private bank because some of them just aren't wealthy enough to bank at Goldman.
For years, Goldman allowed its current and former employees to use its private banking services.
This gave them access to Goldman research, trade execution services through Goldman, and a dedicated customer service line. But now Goldman has decided that some of its own will have to bank elsewhere.
Kevin Roose of Daily Intelligencer reports:
According to several ex-employees, Goldman began the transition earlier this year, by requiring employees with less than $1 million in assets at the firm to pay a $3,000 annual fee to keep their Goldman accounts open. Later, it sent a letter informing account holders under the limit that they would be forced to move their accounts by the end of 2014. Now callers to the firm's 800 number for employee financial services are greeted with a message: "Please press 1 if your call is regarding the Fidelity migration."
"The platform we've developed is for a high-net-worth customer," a person familiar with the situation told Daily Intelligencer. "A huge chunk of the people who work for us do not fall into that category."
Goldman spokesman David Wells said that the new policy applied to current employees as well as former ones, and that it "ensures these current and former employees receive the right tools and services."
I called a former Goldman banker to ask about the change.
"I'm not surprised," he said. "Goldman is probably ashamed that any former employees aren't millionaires."
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