Goldman Sachs Denies Divestiture Plan, Wells Fargo Raises Buyback: Financial Business Wrap

The Wall Street Journal might have reported otherwise, but Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) says it has never “seriously” thought of divesting its commodities operation to suit some new regulatory structure. On the other hand, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), remains in ongoing discussions to sell off a majority interest in its commodity division to Qatar’s Sovereign Wealth Fund.

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The board of Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) raises the firm’s stock repurchase authorization by 200 million shares which are worth around $7 billion worth at Tuesday’s price. The total float is approximately 5.3 billion shares.

UBS (NYSE:UBS) executives are locked in a board meeting to work out details regarding even more drastic reductions to the company’s investment bank as they look to step up the firm’s return to a concentration on the more lucrative wealth management business. The unit earns UBS a 26 percent return on allocated equity, which is far higher than the capital-consuming investment banking division.

Don’t Miss: Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are in Opposition Over Commodities.