Is Goldman Sachs’ CEO Structure Independence Enough? ISS Urges Change Amidst Corporate Scandals and Leadership Losses

Recently, Goldman Sachs has been under scrutiny for its consumer business and ongoing personnel issues. This has put the company’s chairman and CEO, David Solomon, under a harsh spotlight. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) is urging the bank to separate the roles of CEO and chairman in order to ensure more independent oversight.

The proxy advisor believes that having more independent oversight of the company is necessary, as indicated in a report sent before the April shareholder meeting. Despite the fact that under Solomon’s leadership the stock has seen significant growth, recent issues facing Goldman Sachs have put him under a harsh spotlight. The bank has been working on damage control after reports about a lack of female leadership, including women leaving the company during Solomon’s tenure. One of the female executives who left, Stephanie Cohen, led the bank’s consumer business ventures, which ended up in losses and subsequent retreat.

ISS has also expressed concerns about Solomon’s decisions in the consumer sector, which have resulted in losses and further human capital issues. Even though Goldman’s governance committee found the dual CEO-chairman structure to be effective, ISS still recommends separate roles. Goldman’s board of directors, including next lead independent director David Viniar have received ISS’s recommendation to be voted for at an upcoming shareholder meeting. However there is skepticism about elevating a former Goldman executive to such a role but board is standing by their decision and structure despite the report from ISS and upcoming shareholder meeting , Goldman Sachs has not responded to requests for comment