Goldman Sachs is trying to change its culture, and it is creating a lot of 'friction'

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Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein moderates a panel discussion at the North American Energy Summit in the Manhattan borough of New York, June 10, 2014.   REUTERS/Adam Hunger

Thomson Reuters

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Chairman and CEO Blankfein moderates a panel discussion at North American Energy Summit in New York

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There's a culture shift underway inside Goldman Sachs' sales and trading business, and it's causing a bit of tension within the firm.

Goldman Sachs' global cohead of sales, Tom Cornacchia, was surprisingly blunt at an event earlier this week when discussing changes in the fixed income division that are causing some "friction" and "awkwardness."

"There's a lot of denial that exists upfront, and that denial is something that we're trying to push through our system internally," Cornacchia he said.

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The numbers have been tallied, and more hedge funds closed in the fourth quarter of last year than at any time since the depths of the financial crisis. In related news, hedge fund giant Citadel is having a tough year.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont are going after activist hedge funds. The senators have sponsored a bill seeking to increase transparency and oversight of activist investors who take large stakes in companies.

"We cannot allow our economy to be hijacked by a small group of investors who seek only to enrich themselves at the expense of workers, taxpayers and communities," the bill says.

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