Matt Levine, Columnist

Love, Friendship and Public Accounting Don't Mix

There's supposed to be a bright line between business and pleasure. Things get messy when it's crossed.

September 19, 2016 at 7:40 PM UTC

Matt Levine is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former investment banker at Goldman Sachs, he was a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; a clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit; and an editor of Dealbreaker.

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"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude," wrote Paul to the Corinthians, but if you are looking for something a bit less clichéd to read at a wedding, let me recommend this passage from a Securities and Exchange Commission order:

That is the most romantic thing I have ever read in an SEC order.1474297339911 They have captured the essence of modern love there: intimacy, affection, frequent e-mails, gifts of minimal value. It's the thought that counts, to the SEC.