Goldman Sachs Loses $428 million in Third Quarter (AP)

Revenue from bond and currency trading recovered slightly from a dismal performance in the second quarter, but was still down 36 percent from a year ago. Goldman’s investment and lending unit lost $1.1 billion on its stake in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, $1 billion on other stock holdings and $907 million on bonds and loans.

Banking is becoming smaller, simpler and less profitable, as the government clamps down on many of the kinds of business that drove outsized profits, and risky balance sheets, prior to the financial crisis.

Goldman has done better than most big banks throughout the crisis and its aftermath, though it’s also been one of the most maligned. The storied investment bank, which like its peers packaged and sold risky mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis took hold, has been through investigations, fines and other headaches. In the third quarter the bank set aside $59 million for litigation and regulatory proceedings.

Goldman, which has been public for 12 years, has recorded only one other quarterly loss since then, at the end of 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.

The bank said at its last earnings call, in July, that it would eliminate as many as 1,000 jobs to cut costs. Tuesday it said had 34,200 employees, down 1,300 from the previous quarter.