Goldman Sachs Bans Profanity In Emails -- No More 'Sh--ty Deals'

Goldman Sachs workers beware: expletives, like those used referring to certain now infamous mortgage deals, are no longer allowed in emails.

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that, following the lead of Citigroup and JPMorgan, Goldman has issued a company-wide ban on email profanity. Here's the WSJ

A Goldman spokeswoman said: "Of course we have policies about the use of appropriate language and we are always looking for ways to ensure that they are enforced."

The new edict--delivered verbally, of course--has left some employees wondering if the rule also applies to shorthand for expletives such as "WTF" or legitimate terms that sound similar to curses.

(Check out the full piece at the WSJ.)

The new mandates are likely intended to stop emails from surfacing like the internal bank messages that referred to the Timberwolf CDO as a "sh--ty deal". In an April Congressional hearing, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), highlighted a series of emails in which Tom Montag, a senior bank executive, appeared to rip into the quality of the complex CDO package. In the below video, Daniel Sparks, the former chief of Goldman Sachs's mortgage department, gets grilled over the email by Sen. Levin, who uses the term "sh--ty deal" some 12 times.

WATCH:

What do you think? Is Goldman's HR department going too far?