Goldman chiefs comment on Buffalo Wild Wings insider trading arrest

Goldman Sachs is fretting that a banker charged with insider trading tied to a planned Buffalo Wild Wings acquisition has sullied its reputation — and it plans to tighten its grip on staffers as a result, The Post has learned.

The co-heads of Goldman’s storied investment bank fired off a memo Friday, addressing the Oct. 18 arrest of Bryan Cohen, who’s been charged with helping pals get rich off information gleaned from Goldman’s banking clients, including word that fast-food chain Arby’s wanted to buy Buffalo Wild Wings in 2017.

In the memo, the co-heads commiserated with the division’s staffers over “the repercussions, personally and professionally” the arrest has had on the bank. It also sternly reminded them to follow the rules — and to report on those who don’t.

“We all feel the repercussions, personally and professionally, of a colleague’s bad behavior,” Goldman’s investment banking heads, Gregg Lamkau and Dan Dees, wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Post “We know this is incredibly frustrating and disappointing. And we also know that you all will work tirelessly to restore our reputation through excellence and integrity.”

The memo warned bankers to expect a follow-up conversation to make sure everyone understands the company’s policies to protect against insider trading — including alerting managers to “concerning behavior” from colleagues, according to the Friday memo.

“Over the coming weeks, we will be speaking to all of you to reiterate the firm’s ethical standards and reinforce our policies regarding safeguarding confidential information,” Lemkau and Dees wrote in the memo. The memo also reminded staffers about policies around “proactively escalating any concerning behavior.”

The bank is reviewing its policies for handling confidential information and could tighten its safeguards, according to a person familiar with the internal discussions.

Cohen, a New York banker who started his Goldman career in London, used burner phones he bought in Manhattan to tell at least two pals about takeover interest in companies like Buffalo Wild Wings, a popular sports bar chain, and Syngenta, an argochemical company according to the Manhattan federal court documents.

One pal, George Nikas, owner of a restaurant chain GRK Fresh, which has locations in Manhattan, earned $2.6 million on the trades, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed civil charges. Cohen earned cash in exchange for his tips, said Manhattan federal prosecutors, who charged him criminally.

Cohen, 33, was released on a $750,000 bond last week. A call to his lawyer wasn’t immediately returned.

His arrest comes after Goldman analyst Damilare Sonoiki pleaded guilty last year to giving nonpublic information about mergers to Seattle Seahawks linebacker Mychal Kendricks in exchange for free tickets to games and $10,000 in cash. Sonoiki was sentenced to three years’ probation, and Kendricks’ sentencing is scheduled for December.

In June of this year, Goldman investment banker Woojae “Steve” Young was charged with making $130,000 in illegal gains by trading in a secret account on companies that he knew were to be merging, according to the DOJ.

Goldman, which declined to comment on the memo, has said that they’re cooperating with the investigation.