Fred Goodwin is working at State Street

Since around September this year, Fred Goodwin has been working at State Street. He left Lehman in 2007, joined Nomura in 2008, and moved into his new role a few months’ ago. He appears to specialise in macro strategy/risk.

Needless to say, this Fred Goodwin is not the same as (and bears no relation to) the Frederick Anderson Goodwin, who may yet face criminal charges for his role in the downfall of RBS. 

However, the existence of an appellative doppelganger underscores the potential for confusion in an industry of 288,000 people. 

Further investigation of the FSA register reveals there is also a Jonathan Cameron working at Climate Change Capital. Confusion with Johnny Cameron from RBS appears less likely here: Climate Change Capital’s director goes by the name of James Cameron; his full name is Jonathan James O'Grady Cameron. Again, he bears no relation to his nomenclatural doppelganger.

State Street’s Fred Goodwin declined to comment for this article.

However, another City employee, who shares part of his name with a very famous fictional-financial-services-character, says having a notorious name can have its advantages when searching for a job: “Once you get into an interview, it’s a big talking point and can break the ice,” he informs us.