Goldman Moves Signal Growth Intentions

Hires by Goldman Sachs portend expansion of two of the bank's lines of business: Lachlan Edwards, a distressed company specialist, has joined the London office, while Nelson Lo joined in Hong Kong as head of loan syndication in Asia ex-Japan, a new position.

Coupled with Goldman's hiring last month of restructuring attorney James Sprayregen, Edwards' appointment was seen as further evidence that banks believe higher interest rates will cause more companies to flirt with bankruptcy.

Edwards was poached from Rothschild, where he was co-head of restructuring in Europe. The Financial Times called him "a star of the distressed debt sector." He reports to Tim Flynn and Doug Henderson, co-heads of Goldman's European leveraged finance operation.

As for Lo, previously a senior vice president of syndicated finance at DBS, Managing Director Harvey Lee told Finance Asia his hiring was part of an effort "to respond to the growth in leveraged finance opportunities." The newspaper said Goldman may seek more candidates for its loan syndication team and its leveraged finance business.