eFC Briefing: Goldman Bumps Up Four

New leadership in units of Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and the SEC.

Four men who head Goldman Sachs' equity trading, macro trading, credit and securities sales were named global co-heads of the securities division, and given places on the bank's management committee. They are David Heller, New York-based global equity trading chief; Edward Eisler, London-based global head of macro trading and co-head of emerging markets; Pablo Salame, London-based co-head of global credit along with other activities including mortgages and European equities; and Harvey Schwartz, New York-based global securities sales chief, who had co-led fixed-income sales in the Americas until last year. Various news outlets reported the appointments, citing an internal memo.

The four replace Michael Evans and Michael Sherwood, named by Goldman last week as vice chairmen. Evans remains chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia and Sherwood remains co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International, the bank's European arm.

***

Merrill Lynch named Credit Suisse technology executive Thomas J. Sanzone as its executive vice president and chief administrative officer. He will join Merrill in the second half of 2008 in charge of global technology, operations, and corporate services groups. The bank's previous chief administrative officer, Ahmass Fakahany, had held different responsibilities, including overseeing finance and human resources. Fakahany moved from that role to co-president of Merrill Lynch last May and resigned in January after the bank reported a $9.8 billion fourth-quarter net loss. Sanzone was chief information officer of Credit Suisse since 2005, and previously served in the same capacity for several major divisions of Citigroup.

To succeed Sanzone, Credit Suisse named Karl Landert, who headed information technology for its private bank.

***

Merrill's exit last year from sub-prime loan origination reportedly could eliminate up to 500 jobs at its First Franklin Financial subsidiary. However, Merrill is likely to keep First Franklin's loan servicing business, according to unnamed sources cited by the New York Times.

***

Citigroup's Chief Executive Vikram Pandit tapped longtime ally Brian Leach as chief risk officer to replace Jorge Bermudez, who is retiring. Leach was CRO and co-chief operating officer at Old Lane Partners, a hedge fund Citi acquired last July, and which Leach co-founded with Pandit. The two also worked together at Morgan Stanley for about 20 years. Citi also named four other senior-level risk managers who will report to Leach: Suneel Bakhshi,, for the global consumer group and Citibank N.A.; Charles Monet for capital allocation risk; Greg Hawkins for real estate and mortgage risk exposure; and Adil Nathani for structured credit risk.

***

Separately, Citi unveiled a new structure for its U.S. wealth management business, slicing up customers based on wealth levels. Instead of being spun off as some investors urged, wealth management will be realigned into units serving ultra-high-net-worth, high-net-worth, and "emerging affluent" customers. The previous structure comprised Smith Barney, the retail brokerage; Citi Private Bank; and Citi Investment Research. Charlie Johnston, current chief executive of Smith Barney, will become president of the wealth management division for the U.S. and Canada, according to The Wall Street Journal.

***

The Securities and Exchange Commission named Jonathan S. Sokobin director of its Office of Risk Assessment. The office's professional staff will double this year to provide resources and analytical support for enforcement, trading and markets, investment management, corporation finance and other SEC activities. Sokobin, who was deputy chief economist, "is being tapped to lead a major initiative that will knit together the agency's resources for the identification of market risks and dangerous illegal practices before they metastasize into truly lethal consequences for investors," SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said.

***

Olivier Sarkozy will jump from UBS to the Carlyle Group as co-head and managing director of the private equity firm's global financial services group. Sarkozy, half-brother of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is currently global co-head of financial institutions investment banking at UBS. Starting in April, he will lead the nearly year-old group within Carlyle along with David Zwiener, the former head of the Hartford Financial Services Group's property and casualty unit.