As we did with American Express and Deere & Company, in recent months NLPC negotiated an agreement with Goldman Sachs for the bank to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion considerations when its directors decide who they might consider adding to the board. In exchange, we withdrew a shareholder proposal which had sought the change. The proposal was intended to be considered for this year’s annual meeting. News of the deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal early last week:
The board’s governance committee currently finds qualified candidates based primarily on four factors, one of which is a broad description of diversity, such as viewpoints, background, work and military service in addition to “other demographics” that includes a list of DEI factors.
Now it plans to cross off the “other demographics” including race, gender identity, ethnicity and sexual orientation, [people familiar with the matter] said.
Goldman’s decision followed a behind-the-scenes request from the conservative activist nonprofit National Legal and Policy Center, which owns a small stake in the bank. The group submitted a proposal to the firm in September, seeking to remove the DEI criteria, the people said. The group requested its proposal be included in Goldman’s proxy statement that will be circulated to shareholders ahead of the firm’s annual shareholder meeting this spring.
Goldman informed the NLPC that it plans to remove the DEI criteria, and an agreement was signed between the two parties that also includes the activist group withdrawing its proposal.
News of the agreement was reported by several other media outlets as well, including the New York Times (also its popular Dealbook daily digest), New York Post, Bloomberg, Reuters, Fox Business, Fortune, The Telegraph (U.K.), The Times of London, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Observer (U.K.), The Daily Caller, Citywire, and The Washington Stand.
We thank the representatives of Goldman Sachs for their good-faith negotiations, and the board of directors for taking this important step.
