Goldman Sachs explains axing DEI rule which has ‘served its purpose’

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Goldman Sachs have become the latest company to scrap their diversity programmes following the Trump administration’s signing of an executive order which was aimed at ending "radical and wasteful government DEI programs". However, when probed over whether businesses were suddenly changing policies around diversity due to the White House’s position, Richard Gnodde, Goldman Sachs vice chair, said: "I can only speak for ourselves, I don't think that's the case,” instead explaining the company felt “that policy was put in place to try and drive a change in behaviour and I think that's happened." Professor Keon West recently wrote for The Independent to explain what science and studies say about Trump’s approach and how it would impact on DEI - noting that while “ DEI’s track record of successfully improving diversity and inclusion” was “inconsistent”, years of research indicated Trump’s executive order would not accomplish any of the goals it set out to. Adding to Mr. Gnodde’s comments, a spokeperson at Goldman Sachs said: "As a result of legal developments related to board diversity requirements, we ended our formal board diversity policy."