Just two years ago, Goldman Sachs was flying high in Russia, ranked as the No. 2 investment bank in Russia’s equity and debt underwriting. So what happened last year that made GS tailspin down to No. 24, while its peers, such as Morgan Stanley, were on the move? According to The New York Times, Goldman Sachs is taking a more cautious approach than its peers, after it got socked in 1998 when the ruble devalued. The bank is still eager to get its fair share of the business, says The Times, and it is planning to expand its presence there, though currently most of the people covering Russia are located in London. “It’s a case of once bitten, twice shy,” Chris Weafer of Alfa-Bank In Moscow told the Times, referring to the 1998 ruble debacle.
