Goldman Sachs is not a jealous and possessive employer. It is cool with junior bankers signing up to work for private equity firms. But if they are, it wants to know.
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This is the reality behind the soon-to-be-introduced Goldman Sachs oaths.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that Goldman plans to make its incoming junior bankers swear quarterly oaths that they have not got jobs elsewhere. Known as “attestations” at Goldman, these oaths appear intended to impede the practice of junior bankers signing up to work for private equity firms 18 months in the future.
But what happens if a Goldman Sachs junior banker actually attests to having a private equity offer? Not much. The Wall Street Journal said today that Goldman won’t fire its junior bankers who have offers elsewhere. The firm also already requires its junior bankers to disclose external job offers when they join; the quarterly attestations just make the process a bit more regular.
What is the point of the attestations/oaths then? Goldman Sachs declined to comment, but it’s understood they’re simply a tool to avoid conflicts of interest in which junior bankers moving to a private equity firm might otherwise be staffed on deals where their future employer is on the other side. Morgan Stanley is doing something similar.
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