Goldman Sachs 'like Ronnie Biggs'

The chairman of the Parliamentary committee investigating the sell-off of Royal Mail has likened Vince Cable’s decision to hire Goldman Sachs to advise on pricing to giving train robber Ronnie Biggs a security job.
The claim was made as the Parliamentary Business Select Committee seeks to discover whether the postal operator was sold on the cheap and has hauled both bankers and ministers in to give evidence.
It followed reports that at the time of the appointment, Goldman Sachs was in the middle of a court case over a $7.5m payout after undervaluing US firm eToys Inc in 1999.
Goldman Sachs and UBS had valued Royal Mail at £3.3bn, while its rival JP Morgan valued it as high as £10bn. Goldman Sachs later made £12m after selling Royal Mail shares at the top of the market, according to press reports.
Committee chairman Adrian Bailey said: “I find it quite astonishing that something that was publically available on Google should be understood closely involved in the process. From outside I have to say that appointing Goldman Sachs on a flotation given this court case is a bit like asking Ronnie Biggs to have an appointment at Securicor.”
Business Secretary Cable admitted the buck stops with him for selling shares in the firm at £3.30 which have since surged to more than £5.60.