Goldman Sachs Group Inc

The financial services industry and the securities and other financial markets have been materially and adversely affected in the past by significant declines in the values of nearly all asset classes, by a severe lack of liquidity and by high levels of borrower defaults. In addition, concerns about actual or potential increases in interest rates, inflation and other borrowing costs, a public health emergency, sovereign debt risk and its impact on the relevant sovereign banking system, and limitations on international trade, have, at times, negatively impacted the levels of client activity.

General uncertainty about economic, political and market activities, and the scope, timing and impact of regulatory reform, as well as weak consumer, investor and CEO confidence resulting in large part from such uncertainty, has in the past negatively impacted client activity, which has in the past adversely affected and could in the future adversely affect many of our businesses. The outcomes of political elections could also result in changes in policy, which could have adverse effects on us or the business environment in which we operate more generally. Periods of low volatility and periods of high volatility combined with a lack of liquidity have at times had an unfavorable impact on our market-making businesses.

Additionally, although the prevalence and scope of applications of distributed ledger technology, cryptocurrency and similar technologies is growing, the technology is nascent and may be vulnerable to cyber attacks or have other inherent weaknesses. We are exposed to risks, and may become exposed to additional risks, related to distributed ledger technology, including through our facilitation of activities involving financial products that use distributed ledger technology, such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins or other digital assets, our investments in companies that seek to develop platforms based on distributed ledger technology, the use of distributed ledger technology by us, third-party vendors, clients, counterparties, clearinghouses and other financial intermediaries, and the receipt or use of cryptocurrencies or other digital assets as collateral. Market volatility of financial products using distributed ledger technology may increase these risks.

Goldman Sachs 2025 Form 10-K THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES The development and use of AI present risks and challenges that may adversely impact our business.

A failure to protect our computer systems, networks and information, and our clients’ information, against cyber attacks and similar threats could impair our ability to conduct our businesses, result in the disclosure, theft or destruction of confidential information, damage our reputation and cause losses.

Our operations rely on the secure processing, storage and transmission of confidential and other information in our computer systems and networks and those of our vendors. There have been a number of highly publicized cases involving financial services companies, consumer-based companies, software and information technology service providers, governmental agencies and other organizations reporting the unauthorized access or disclosure of client, customer or other confidential information in recent years, as well as cyber attacks involving the dissemination, theft and destruction of corporate information or other assets, as a result of inadequate procedures or the failure to follow procedures by employees or contractors or as a result of actions by third parties, including actions by foreign governments. There have also been a number of highly publicized cases where hackers have requested “ransom” payments in exchange for not disclosing customer information or for restoring access to information or systems.

As a participant in the financial services industry and a globally systemically important financial institution, we are subject to extensive regulation in jurisdictions around the world. We face the risk of significant intervention by law enforcement, regulatory and taxing authorities, as well as private litigation, in all jurisdictions in which we conduct our businesses. In many cases, our activities have been and may continue to be subject to overlapping and divergent regulation in different jurisdictions. Among other things, as a result of law enforcement authorities, regulators or private parties challenging our compliance with existing laws and regulations, we or our employees have been, and could be, fined, criminally charged or sanctioned; prohibited from engaging in some of our business activities; subjected to limitations or conditions on our business activities, including higher capital requirements; or subjected to new or substantially higher taxes or other governmental charges in connection with the conduct of our businesses or with respect to our employees. These limitations or conditions may limit our business activities and negatively impact our profitability.

In addition to the impact on the scope and profitability of our business activities, day-to-day compliance with existing laws and regulations has involved and will continue to involve significant amounts of time, including that of our senior leaders and that of a large number of dedicated compliance and other reporting and operational personnel, all of which may negatively impact our profitability.

If there are new laws or regulations or changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws or regulations applicable to our businesses or those of our clients, including capital, liquidity, leverage, long-term debt, total loss-absorbing capacity and margin requirements, restrictions on leveraged lending or other business practices, reporting requirements, requirements relating to recovery and resolution planning, tax burdens and compensation restrictions, that are imposed on a limited subset of financial institutions (whether based on size, method of funding, activities, geography or other criteria), compliance with these new laws or regulations, or changes in the enforcement of existing laws or regulations, could adversely affect our ability to compete effectively with other institutions that are not affected in the same way. In addition, regulation imposed on financial institutions or market participants generally, such as taxes on stock transfers, share repurchases and other financial transactions, could adversely impact levels of market activity more broadly, and thus impact our businesses. Changes to laws or regulations, such as tax laws, could also have a disproportionate impact on us, based on the way those laws or regulations are applied to financial services and financial firms or due to our corporate structure or where or how we provide these services.

These developments could impact our profitability in the affected jurisdictions, or even make it uneconomic for us to continue to conduct all or certain of our businesses in those jurisdictions, or could cause us to incur significant costs associated with changing our business practices, restructuring our businesses, moving all or certain of our businesses and our employees to other locations or complying with applicable capital requirements, including reducing dividends or share repurchases, liquidating assets or raising capital in a manner that adversely increases our funding costs or otherwise adversely affects our shareholders and creditors.

Goldman Sachs 2025 Form 10-K THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Management’s Discussion and Analysis These statements may relate to, among other things, (i) our future plans and results, including our target return on average common shareholders’ equity (ROE), return on average tangible common shareholders’ equity (ROTE), efficiency ratio, Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio, total credit alternative assets, total alternative assets under supervision (AUS), long-term wealth management inflows and percentage growth rate for Management and other fees from alternatives, and how they can be achieved, (ii) trends in or growth opportunities for our businesses, including the timing, costs, profitability, benefits and other aspects of business and strategic initiatives, such as OneGS 3.0, and their impact on our efficiency ratio, (iii) the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence (AI), (iv) our Investment banking fees backlog and future advisory and capital markets results, (v) expenses we may incur, including the level of future compensation expense, (vi) the projected growth of our deposits and other funding, (vii) our business and expense savings initiatives, including OneGS 3.0, (viii) our planned benchmark debt issuances, (ix) our credit exposures, (x) our expected provision for credit losses and the adequacy of our allowance for credit losses, (xi) the objectives and effectiveness of our business continuity planning (BCP), information security program, risk management and liquidity policies, (xii) our resolution plan and its implications for stakeholders, (xiii) the effect of changes to regulations, and our future status, activities or reporting under banking and financial regulation, (xiv) our expected tax rate, (xv) the future state of our liquidity and regulatory capital ratios, and our prospective capital distributions (including dividends and repurchases), (xvi) our expected stress capital buffer (SCB) and global systemically important bank (G-SIB) surcharge, (xvii) legal proceedings, governmental investigations or other contingencies, (xviii) the asset recovery guarantee and applications for exemptions and authorizations from regulatory authorities related to our 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) settlements, (xix) the effectiveness of our management of our human capital and changes in headcount, (xx) our sustainability goals, (xxi) future inflation, (xxii) our ability to sell, and the terms of any proposed or pending sales of, Asset & Wealth Management historical principal investments, and our ability to transition the Apple Card program to another issuer, (xxiii) the effectiveness of our cybersecurity risk management process and (xxiv) our completed and announced partnership and acquisitions.

Provision for credit losses was a net benefit of $1.11 billion for 2025, compared with net provisions of $1.35 billion for 2024. The net benefit for 2025 reflected a net release related to the Apple Card loan portfolio (including a reserve reduction of $2.48 billion related to the transfer of the Apple Card loans to held for sale, partially offset by net charge-offs during the year). Provisions for 2024 reflected net provisions related to the credit card portfolio (primarily driven by net charge-offs).

Goldman Sachs 2025 Form 10-K THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Management’s Discussion and Analysis