Goldman Sachs earned a reputation as the best investment bank in the world. It had the best people and put its clients’ interests first. Mr. Smith describes how Goldman’s culture—and with it, employee attitudes—changed after the firm went public (in 1999), from “we are here to serve our clients as honorable business partners, and we have our clients best interest in mind,” to “we [Goldman Sachs and our clients] are all grown-ups and just counter parties to any transaction.” 56 In the latter perspective, unsuspecting clients in the Abacus deal were seen just as “counter parties to a transaction,” who should have known better.