But my best guess is that someone on that risk free arbitrage desk moved from risk free pure arbitrage into very definitely not risk free time arbitrage, or speculation as we should call it, then the market moved against his bet.

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Sitting next to Serge Milman in Broadway's trading room is Steven Girden, 36, a former o-t-c marketmaker at Bear, Stearns' risk arbitrage desk.

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That figure, court records show, exceeded the risk limits for his entire desk at Goldman, a group of about 10 traders.

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Mr Oudea rejects the idea of a systemic failure, arguing that the loss was a product of a particular time and place: a period of rapid growth in equity derivatives, which overstretched the bank's capacity to monitor itself, and a peripheral trading desk where people were less jumpy about the risk of fraud.

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When a company becomes a headline risk situation, journalists and their copy desk colleagues salivate.

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Jaroslav Klapal, the bank's chairman, accepts that risk management was inadequate, but he has clung to his desk amid fierce criticism.

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The reports went to each trading desk across the globe and once a week on closed circuit tv the GS risk managers decided what risks needed to be lowered.

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Analysts questioned the firm's risk management during the Wednesday conference call, especially regarding the incident on the credit desk in London.

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The particles are large enough that the risk of contracting polio in the air is momentary, and on a surface like a desk or a chair, it can last an hour or two.

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