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Goldman’s Incoming CEO Names Two Former Bankers as Top Deputies

David M. Solomon, the incoming chief executive of Goldman Sachs, has picked two veterans of the firm’s investment banking division to help him lead the company.

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By
Kate Kelly
, New York Times

David M. Solomon, the incoming chief executive of Goldman Sachs, has picked two veterans of the firm’s investment banking division to help him lead the company.

At a board meeting on Thursday, Goldman’s directors approved the selection of John E. Waldron, the co-head of investment banking, to be president and chief operating officer, and Stephen M. Scherr, who runs the firm’s consumer bank, as chief financial officer, according to an internal memo reviewed by The New York Times.

Waldron, 49, will take his new role on Oct. 1, the same day that Solomon will become chief executive. Scherr, 54, will take on the finance chief job on Nov. 5, in conjunction with the filing of Goldman’s quarterly results.

The promotions of Waldron and Scherr solidify the dominance of executives from Goldman’s investment-banking division. Solomon and Waldron, friends who both worked at Bear Stearns before they joined Goldman, ran its investment bank together for two years before Solomon was named the firm’s president. Scherr was the investment bank’s chief operating officer for six years before being named Goldman’s chief strategy officer and then the head of its consumer bank.

Waldron and Scherr will help “develop and execute our strategy, grow our client franchise, ensure strong risk and capital management and safeguard our unique culture,” said the internal memo from Solomon and Lloyd C. Blankfein, the bank’s outgoing chief executive.

The shift comes as Goldman’s traditionally strong trading business is in decline. R. Martin Chavez, Goldman’s current chief financial officer, will return to the securities division to help run it. He will also become a vice chairman of the firm. He is 54.

The Times this week reported that Solomon played down ethics concerns raised by James C. Katzman, the Goldman partner who was overseeing West Coast deals in the firm’s investment bank. Katzman resigned after feeling that his concerns, which he reported to a whistle-blower hotline that was managed by an outside law firm, weren’t taken seriously enough.

Goldman has said Solomon didn’t discourage Katzman from reporting perceived misconduct but that Katzman’s concerns were unfounded.

Goldman’s board of directors wasn’t fully informed of Katzman’s grievances at that time, but following the article board members were expected to receive a briefing at Thursday’s meeting, said people familiar with the plans.

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