“We are doing God’s work,” said Llyod Blankfeign of Goldman Sachs. In 2008 Goldman saved its existence by converting itself into a regular bank. They are still classified as a deposit institution. But a bulk of what they do is investment banking and trading. Most of their profits come from proprietary trading. In other words, Goldman is a hedge fund classified as a bank.

The question for the poll is:

Does high frequency securities trading (aka HFT) by prop desks at investment banks add any economic value to the system?

[ad#GoogleHalfBannerInline]