In December 2004, Goldman Sachs struck an unusual deal to bolster its presence in China. The Wall Street investment bank agreed to “donate” $62 million to pay off the debt of a failed state-owned brokerage house.The money went into a fund that was supposed to compensate investors whose savings had been embezzled by the directors of Hainan Securities, a state-backed firm. In exchange, Beijing granted Goldman a license to operate a joint venture brokerage firm in China. That new venture, Goldman Sachs Gaohua Securities, was supposed to help the Wall Street firm win privileged access to China’s fast-growing economy and its highly regulated financial services market, which had largely been closed to foreign firms. The business was only a modest success. But now, after more than a decade of aggressive lobbying by Wall Street firms and the U.S. government, China has begun to grant foreign firms greater access to its financial markets, allowing global institutions like Goldman