Dive Brief:
- Goldman Sachs CFO Stephen Scherr is stepping down from that role Jan. 1, and is leaving the bank at the end of January, the company announced Tuesday.
- Denis Coleman, co-head of the bank's global financing group, has been named deputy CFO, effective immediately, and will succeed Scherr as CFO on Jan. 1, the bank said.
- With the move, Goldman becomes the fourth of the six largest U.S. banks to name a new CFO this year, following JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.
Dive Insight:
Scherr, who has served as CFO since 2018, joined Goldman in 1993 as an associate in the bank's financial institutions group. Prior to becoming CFO, he led Goldman's consumer and commercial banking division and helped launch Marcus, the bank's consumer-lending arm.
Scherr will become a senior director with Goldman after Jan. 31, but a person familiar with his departure told the Financial Times that Scherr is open to leadership positions at other companies, adding that the decision to leave was his own.
"I'm energized for my next chapter — whatever that may be," Scherr wrote in a LinkedIn post Tuesday. "But for now, I'm feeling grateful for an incredible journey at an incredible place."
In a statement announcing the C-suite change, Goldman CEO David Solomon praised Scherr's "work ethic, command of complexity, and unfailing commitment to the firm."
Coleman joined Goldman in 1996 as an analyst in the bank loan group and, in co-leading the global financing group, has found himself in what has, at Goldman, increasingly become a stepping-stone to CFO. (Scherr, too, served in a leadership role with the group from 2008 to 2014.)
"Denis has consistently proven himself through his strong judgment and operational capability across roles of increasing responsibility and we look forward to his contributions to the firm as Chief Financial Officer," Solomon said in a statement Tuesday. "His strong foundation across capital markets and risk management position him well to succeed as we seek to build on our momentum across our client franchise and deliver shareholder value."
Goldman's treasurer, Beth Hammack, will succeed Coleman as co-head of the global financing group. Phil Berlinski, a senior trading executive, will become treasurer, Bloomberg reported.
Scherr's departure comes during a year in which Goldman has seen more than its usual share of turnover. Its general counsel, communications chief, head of diversity and asset-management co-head have all announced their departure since March.
Credit Suisse in July hired away two 24-year Goldman veterans, Deputy Chief Risk Officer David Wildermuth, and a leading tech executive, Joanne Hannaford.
Perhaps hardest hit within Goldman has been Marcus. The consumer bank's chief executive, Omer Ismail, and head of large partnerships, David Stark, left Marcus in February for Walmart's fintech startup. Its head of product, Sonali Divilek, left in April to join JPMorgan Chase. And Marcus' CFO, Sherry Ann Mohan, also left for JPMorgan. Liz Ewing, previously Scherr's chief of staff, succeeded Mohan in leading the finance operation at Marcus.
The leadership changes at Goldman track with an assessment by The Wall Street Journal that large U.S. banks typically promote from within to fill the CFO role.
JPMorgan Chase named Jeremy Barnum, previously the head of global research in its corporate and investment bank, as CFO in May, succeeding Jennifer Piepszak, who became co-head of consumer and community banking.
When Morgan Stanley, also in May, named previous CFO Jon Pruzan as its next chief operating officer, the bank promoted Sharon Yeshaya, its investor relations chief, to CFO.
And Bank of America last week looked to its president of global commercial banking, Alastair Borthwick, to become its next CFO, effective in the fourth quarter. The bank’s current CFO, Paul Donofrio, will become a vice chairman overseeing sustainable finance.
