Want to borrow $15 billion for a month at the rock-bottom interest rate of 1.16 percent? You can - but only if you're Goldman Sachs and your generous sugar daddy is the US government. The US Federal Reserve released data Wednesday on the emergency borrowing of big banks during the financial crisis, confirming the extent to which Goldman Sachs and other titans of Wall Street were in dire need of cash in late 2008.
The data show that Goldman Sachs borrowed more than $53 billion under a Fed emergency-lending program that lasted from March to December 2008, allowing banks to borrow at ultra-low rates for up to 28 days. Other major beneficiaries of the program included RBS Securities, the Royal Bank of Scotland's US-based broker, which borrowed about $70 billion; and Switzerland's UBS Securities, which borrowed more than $56 billion.
On December 10, 2008, Goldman got its largest single loan under the program, for a total of $15 billion at 1.16 percent interest. Later that month it borrowed at even lower rates, such as 0.01 percent. The Fed only released the data on its emergency-lending program after a US Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Bloomberg News. Wall Street banks fought a long battle to prevent the data from being released.
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