Goldman Sachs 2013 Annual Report Download - page 27

25Goldman Sachs 2013 Annual Report
Managing Risks Within
From the pressures of rising population and consumption to urbanization and
climate change, the need to pursue sustainability and manage environmental
risks is a growing imperative both for our clients and for Goldman Sachs.
The Environmental Markets Group at Goldman Sachs works closely with
deal teams to conduct enhanced due diligence on transactions that involve
significant environmental issues and, where appropriate, advise clients on how
to mitigate these risks. Whether it is working with an extractive company in
strengthening its commitment to sustainable development or engaging with
an emerging market power company in facilitating the adoption of industry
best practices, through proactive engagement with our clients we are able to
differentiate our advice and create a better outcome for the environment, our
clients and our own risk management. Given the breadth of the clients we
work with, over time, we also play a part in facilitating better environmental
practices and policies across industries and geographies, and ensuring a
more sustainable outcome.
Our approach to environmental risk management is guided by our
Environ mental Policy Framework and 14 sector and subsector guidelines.
Go to: goldmansachs.com/environmentalmarkets
As companies consider their risk
profile, environmental risk management
is increasingly important
The strength and integrity
of our client franchise is
vital to the firm’s continued
success. Sustaining the firm’s
focus on the interrelationship
between client service,
business standards and
reputational risk is the
responsibility of the Client
and Business Standards
Committee (CBSC).
How does the CBSC operate?
Convening senior leaders several
times a month, the CBSC is able to address
pressing issues from multiple perspectives
because it includes representatives from all
of our client-facing divisions and our major
control functions at the firm.
Allowing time for open discussion at
the beginning of every meeting, committee
members are free to raise any concerns
related to clients, business standards
and reputational risk, whether specific to
Goldman Sachs or the broader financial
services industry.
Receiving regular reports from both
client-facing and control divisions, the CBSC
monitors the current state of our client
franchise, challenges facing our clients and
the financial performance of our businesses.
Focusing on key risks — every
report to the CBSC from our business
units and control functions must provide
an assessment of ongoing and emerging
risks. By requiring business units to engage
in the discipline of preparing key risk
assessments, the committee ensures that
reputational risk remains at the forefront
of business leaders’ thinking.
Working with a network of divisional
and regional CBSCs — subcommittees
ensure that distant risk issues rise to the
top, and that every level of the firm remains
focused on the importance of the client
franchise and managing reputational risk.
Go to: goldmansachs.com/
business-standards
Kevin Smith, Kyung-Ah Park and David Sperry,
members of the Goldman Sachs Environmental Markets Group
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