Goldman Sachs’ $850m write-down of its loans to LyondellBasell, unveiled this week with its first-quarter results, strikes a contrast to the efforts of other creditors – such as Citigroup, UBS, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Scotland and Apollo Management – to limit losses on exposure to the distressed Dutch chemical maker.

Apollo, the private equity and distressed debt group, bought $1.9bn in Lyondell’s debt from Citi last April, paying less than 90 cents on the dollar, with Citi providing most of the financing.