Goldman Close to Naming Esposito as Co-Head of Trading Unit

(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is close to naming Jim Esposito global co-head of its trading arm, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Esposito, an American based in London, would run the securities unit with Ashok Varadhan, according to the person, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. While Varadhan has been co-head of the division since 2014, his two peers -- Pablo Salame and Isabelle Ealet -- resigned in June and weren't replaced.

Representatives for Goldman Sachs didn't immediately respond to requests seeking comment. The Wall Street Journal earlier Sunday reported the firm planned to name Esposito to the role, citing people familiar with the matter.

The trading team revamp would mark another step in the David Solomon era taking shape at Goldman Sachs after the firm officially identified him as the successor to Lloyd Blankfein last month. Solomon has already carried out an expansion of the bank's management committee -- its top decision-making body -- and is expected to carry out other changes in the coming months as he builds out his team. 

Goldman Sachs's trading leadership has been under pressure after the fixed-income business posted its lowest revenue in Blankfein's tenure in 2017, driven by the worst commodities performance in the firm's almost 20 years as a public company. Blankfein said in January that the bank had “the right people running the business.”

The division has been on an upswing this year as trading revenue in the second quarter bounced back from a year earlier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sridhar Natarajan in New York at snatarajan15@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Taub at dtaub@bloomberg.net, Christine Maurus, Kevin Miller

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