Goldman Sachs, like other big banks, has been scrutinized for its hiring practices in China. The question federal authorities are investigating is whether banks hired the children of powerful Chinese officials in an attempt to win lucrative business.
But Goldman’s chief executive, Lloyd C. Blankfein, said on Friday that the bank had a procedure to make sure such hires did not cross a line into becoming bribes.
“Not China specifically, but I’ve had people who say, ‘Look, my kid’s in the blankety-blank business school in the United States, really would like a job in finance. He really would like a job at Goldman Sachs,’ †Mr. Blankfein said in an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “I’m thinking about how it could look. So we have a lot of processes to vet these things.â€
The investigations into hiring have touched a number of the world’s big banks â€" including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley â€" and put Wall Street on high alert, according to The New York Times.
These inquiries are focusing on the hiring of children of officials at state-owned enterprises in China. Still, in the eyes of some on Wall Street, it is nothing new that young people bound for jobs in finance tend to be well-connected.
“If you precluded yourself from hiring any kid that was affiliated with somebody, whose parent was an important official or an important industrialist or executive, you wouldn’t have very many people left,†Mr. Blankfein said in the television interview. “Who do you think the kids are that are multicultural and filling Harvard Business School?â€
Asked whether he had seen any hiring that looked like a bribe, Mr. Blankfein paused for a moment.
“Not firsthand,†he said.
