Goldman Sachs 2009 Annual Report Download - page 34

Introduction
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (Group Inc.) is a leading
global investment banking, securities and investment
management  rm that provides a wide range of  nancial
services to a substantial and diversi ed client base that
includes corporations,  nancial institutions, governments
and high-net-worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the  rm is
headquartered in NewYork and maintains of ces in London,
Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major  nancial
centers around the world.
Our activities are divided into three segments:
▪ Investment Banking. We provide a broad range of investment
banking services to a diverse group of corporations,  nancial
institutions, investment funds, governments and individuals.
▪ Trading and Principal Investments. We facilitate client
transactions with a diverse group of corporations,  nancial
institutions, investment funds, governments and individuals
through market making in, trading of and investing in
 xed income and equity products, currencies, commodities
and derivatives on these products. We also take proprietary
positions on certain of these products. In addition, we
engage in market-making activities on equities and options
exchanges, and we clear client transactions on major stock,
options and futures exchanges worldwide. In connection with
our merchant banking and other investing activities, we make
principal investments directly and through funds that we
raise and manage.
▪ Asset Management and Securities Services. We provide
investment and wealth advisory services and offer investment
products (primarily through separately managed accounts
and commingled vehicles, such as mutual funds and private
investment funds) across all major asset classes to a diverse
group of institutions and individuals worldwide and provide
prime brokerage services,  nancing services and securities
lending services to institutional clients, including hedge funds,
mutual funds, pension funds and foundations, and to high-
net-worth individuals worldwide.
When we use the terms “Goldman Sachs,” “the  rm,” “we,”
“us” and “our,” we mean Group Inc., a Delaware corporation,
and its consolidated subsidiaries. References herein to our
Annual Report on Form10-K are to our Annual Report on
Form10-K for the  scal year ended December31,2009.
In connection with becoming a bank holding company, we
were required to change our  scal year-end from November
to December. This change in our  scal year-end resulted in a
one-month transitionperiod that began on November29,2008
and ended on December 26,2008. Financial information for
this  scal transitionperiod is included in the consolidated
 nancial statements, notes to consolidated  nancial statements
and supplemental  nancial information. In April2009, the
Board of Directors of Group Inc. (the Board) approved a change
in our  scal year-end from the last Friday of December to
December31. Fiscal 2009 began on December27,2008 and
ended on December31,2009.
All references to 2009, 2008 and 2007, unless speci cally stated
otherwise, refer to our  scal years ended, or the dates, as the
context requires, December31, 2009, November28,2008
and November30, 2007, respectively, and any reference to a
future year refers to a  scal year ending on December31 of
that year. All references to December2008, unless speci cally
stated otherwise, refer to our  scal one month ended, or the
date, as the context requires, December26,2008. Certain
reclassi cations have been made to previously reported amounts
to conform to the current presentation.
In this discussion, we have included statements that may
constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of
the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not
historical facts but instead represent only our beliefs regarding
future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently
uncertain and outside our control. These statements include
statements other than historical information or statements
of current condition and may relate to our future plans and
objectives and results, among other things, and may also include
statements about the objectives and effectiveness of our risk
management and liquidity policies, statements about trends in
or growth opportunities for our businesses, statements about
our future status, activities or reporting under U.S. or non-
U.S. banking and  nancial regulation, and statements about
our investment banking transaction backlog. By identifying
these statements for you in this manner, we are alerting you to
the possibility that our actual results and  nancial condition
may differ, possibly materially, from the anticipated results
and  nancial condition indicated in these forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could cause our actual
results and  nancial condition to differ from those indicated in
these forward-looking statements include, among others, those
discussed below under “— Certain Risk Factors That May Affect
Our Businesses” as well as “Risk Factors” in PartI, Item 1A of
our Annual Report on Form10-K and “Cautionary Statement
Pursuant to the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995” in PartI, Item 1 of our Annual Report on Form10-K.
Goldman Sachs 2009 Annual Report
32
Management’s Discussion and Analysis