Goldman Tries to Be Frugal, but...

Saving money evidently is harder than making it, at least when you're Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The famously successful investment bank -- er, bank holding company -- chose to relocate a Technology and Internet Conference from Mandalay Bay Las Vegas to a San Francisco Marriott in a move to burnish its image as a thrifty recipient of heaps of TARP money.

The only problem is that Goldman doesn't know if it will save money in making the change -- or wind up spending more because of it. A Mandalay Bay employee who requested anonymity told the Associated Press that the cancellation fee to move the February 25-27 conference was $600,000.

Goldman spokesman Ed Canady suggested that actual savings were less important than the appearance of savings. "The decision to relocate the conference is based on our best efforts to operate according to the requirements of the new landscape of our industry," he told the AP.

Canady's comment comes after an announcement last week that Goldman would postpone a March conference for hedge fund clients and investors, and shifted an annual event to New York from Miami.

Goldman's actions reverberate across the financial industry, as companies that have received taxpayer help have endured added pressure and wariness about how they spend the money.

Most notably, AIG was the target of widespread vitriol in the autumn for spending $440,000 on a luxurious trip for top insurance agents shortly after the government lent it a life-saving $85 billion.

Others affected include Wells Fargo & Co., which collected $25 billion, and Morgan Stanley, a recipient of $10 billion in bailout funds. Wells Fargo canceled a conference in Las Vegas last week, and Morgan Stanley put the kibosh on a trip to Monte Carlo for "top employees," after much public criticism.

Goldman's Canady insisted nonetheless that the conference would remain almost the same other than the move to San Francisco.

by Joan R. Magee