That loan book soaked about half of the deposits it had at the end of 2015. The GE deal added another $16 billion in deposits, likely depressing that ratio. By comparison, Morgan Stanley lends out around 55 percent of its deposits and has said publicly it was targeting to grow that percentage to 70 percent.
There is danger in being too aggressive in expanding a loan book when there is tough competition for good borrowers, as there is today. Goldman's strategy may carry additional risk: because borrowers are not in-house, the bank may have to rely on other firms to vet credit histories and assess asset values.
It is unclear how Goldman plans to manage those risks.