Goldman Sachs appoints Denis Coleman as new finance chief

New York — Goldman Sachs plans to replace its finance chief at year-end, with Denis Coleman taking over from CFO Stephen Scherr, according to an internal memo on Tuesday.

Coleman, 47, is co-head of the global financing group in Goldman's investment banking division, a role his two predecessors had before becoming CFO. He becomes Scherr’s deputy CFO immediately.

Goldman’s global treasurer, Beth Hammack, will replace Coleman in that position.

The CFO role did not have much cachet on Wall Street until the 2008 financial crisis, when those executives were explaining the mortgage meltdown and investment losses to shareholders.

Since then, bank CFOs have become crucial emissaries to investors, regulators and employees, as well as the broader public. The position is viewed as a stepping stone to bigger things, including a CEO role.

Scherr, 57, has been with Goldman for 28 years and its finance chief since November 2018, around the time CEO David Solomon took his seat.

Scherr has helped Solomon imagine and execute a vision for the fifth-largest US bank as Goldman tries to become more like rivals with large businesses outside trading and investment banking.

That included acquiring deposits, unveiling a credit card with Apple and launching new services for institutional customers.

In prior roles, Scherr oversaw Goldman’s identity shift from a Wall Street firm to a traditional bank that takes deposits and makes loans.

Solomon celebrated Scherr’s “work ethic, command of complexity and unfailing commitment to the firm” in his memo announcing the changes.

Scherr will remain CFO to the end of 2021, which means analysts and investors can engage with him on Goldman’s quarterly results call in mid-October and have time to get accustomed to Coleman, who is relatively unknown.

Scherr joined Goldman in 1993 as an associate in its financial institutions group and was also key to Goldman’s Latin America business before running its consumer operations.

He formally retires at the end of January, after which he will become a senior director. One of his predecessors, David Viniar, remains on Goldman’s board of directors.

Reuters