Diversity rule of Goldman Sachs axes which “served its objective”

The vice-president of Goldman Sachs said that the bank had abandoned an internal diversity rule which prevented it from advising all men, all white boards on the company’s flutations because it was no longer necessary.

The investment bank had promised that it would only be a company to sell its stocks on the stock market if it had two members of the board of directors who satisfied the requirements of diversity, one of which was to be a woman.

But Richard Gnodde told the BBC: “This policy was put in place to try to conduct a change in behavior and I think it happened.”

In an interview with vast, he also said that the British government should now access and start infrastructure projects.

Goldman Sachs presented its diversity policy on boards of directors in 2020, initially forcing companies that wanted to float must have a diversified member, before increasing it to two people.

Mr. Gnodde said: “I think what is important is that you have a diversity of points of view on this board of directors and if you look at these companies, they have all adopted diversity, it has evolved .

“I think it served its goal.”

According to the reflection group, the conference board of directors, although the American councils are “more diverse than ever”, there has been a “marked slowdown” in hiring racial diversity on boards between 2022 and 2024.

Among the 500 largest American companies, the share of non -white administrators was 26% and the share of women administrators was 34% in 2024, according to the reflection group.

In December of last year, an American Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the Nasdaq, the stock market index, did not have the power to impose rules forcing companies to have women and minorities or people LGBTQ + to their advice or explain why they did not do so.

A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs said: “Due to the legal developments linked to the diversity requirements of the Council, we have ended our official diversity policy of the Board of Directors.”

The company did not specify if he referred to the NASDAQ affair.

In one of his first acts after being sworn in, US President Donald Trump signed an executive decree to end the “radical programs and government waste (diversity, equity and inclusion)”.

A number of companies have since brought back various hiring programs, including Google and Meta, the company that owns Instagram and Facebook.

When asked if companies held up on diversity policies because of Trump’s White House, Gnodde said: “I can only speak for ourselves, I don’t think it’s The case.

“Our ambitions are to continue to get things done and frankly to go much further than us.”

However, he conceded that the uncertainty caused by Trump’s policy on commercial prices weighed on the “animal spirits” of companies and their appetite for investment.

“I think that at the moment, the atmosphere is on the margin (is) a little soaked, because people are uncertain exactly what the political result will be and exactly what the impacts will be,” said Gnodde.

Trump initially declared that he would impose 25% prices in Canada, Mexico and China. However, he then paused them against Canada and Mexico for 30 days.

Since then, the president later announced that he would impose 25% prices on all steel and aluminum entering the United States, provoking furious responses from Canada and the European Union.

Looking at the United Kingdom, Mr. Gnodde urged the government to embark on infrastructure projects as soon as possible.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves Recently announced his support for a third track in Heathrow As well as the expansion of Luton and Gatwick airports, and the construction of a “growth corridor” between Oxford and Cambridge.

However, these projects should not be completed for several years.

The government has made the growth of the economy a key policy, but British growth has slowed down, According to official figures.

Mr. Gnodde said: “Long -term projects are very interesting. We must set them up, but they will take a long time.”

He added: “Let us find infrastructure versions that we must make, whether in the energy sector, whether in transport, improving the road network, something on the energy transition.

“These plans are all seated on the treasure office. Why do we not put them on the call for tenders, that the private sector submission of conditions that will be attractive to the private sector, and you will see competition.”

In a report on the increase in small businesses in Great Britain, published on Wednesday, Goldman Sachs said: “If there are two things that we know of the first six months of a new administration in the United Kingdom, C ‘ is that growth is the urgent national mission and unlocking it may be the greatest challenge to which consecutive governments have been confronted.

Mr. Gnodde said that the Labor Party had “sent a strong message to the competition front” after that Recently ousted the president of the competition and the market authority.

He added that the government pulling such a lever could trigger growth to make the United Kingdom “worldwide”.

He also suggested that British companies should consolidate to compete worldwide.

“How many of these players do we need?” He said. “How many telecommunications do we need? How many banks do we need? I think the market should be able to drive this if we want to compete on the world stage.”