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Goldman SachsUnited States
Active
This profile is actively maintained
Last update: 2024-12-17 00:00:00
Goldman Sachs' head office in New York. Photo: Z4dude via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY SA 3.0)
Active
This profile is actively maintained
Last update: 2024-12-17 00:00:00
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About
| Website | http://www.goldmansachs.com/ |
| Headquarters |
200 West Street
10282 New York
United States
|
| CEO/chair |
David M. Solomon Chairman and CEO |
| Supervisor | |
| Ownership |
listed on NYSE
Goldman Sachs' shareholder structure can be accessed here. |
Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869 and is an American global financial services firm that is headquartered in New York. It provides an array of financing services, including investment banking, asset management for institutions and high net worth private clients, and investment research.
Sustainability
Commitments
Policies
Voluntary standards
Goldman Sachs's most important sustainability commitments can be found at the website sections listed below.
Goldman Sachs has committed itself to the following voluntary standards:
Dodgy Deals
Goldman Sachs is linked to a number of companies and projects that BankTrack considers controversial (so called Dodgy Deals), e.g. as a current or past financier or through an expression of interest. The profiles below provide more details on the nature of Goldman Sachs's link to these deals.
Projects / Companies
Finance type
Year
News
BankTrack
Partners
Blog
External
Resources
Accountability
Grievances
Response
tracking
Goldman Sachs does not operate a complaints or grievances channel for individuals or communities that may be adversely affected by the bank's finance.
Stakeholders may raise complaints via the OECD National Contact Points (see OECD Watch guidance).
This page evaluates Goldman Sachs's responses to instances of alleged human rights violations linked to its finance, raised by civil society organisations. It is not intended to be exhaustive, but covers selected impacts raised by BankTrack and other civil society partners since 2016. For the full scoring methodology, see here. For more information about BankTrack's evaluation of bank responses to human rights impacts, see the 2021 report "Actions speak louder: assessing bank responses to human rights violations".
Impacts reviewed
Responded?
Total score
Response
Action
Monitoring
East African Crude Oil Pipeline (March 2021)
0
0
0
0
Response
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
The bank responded stating that it "cannot share details of specific engagements or internal conversations". Action
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
There is no evidence that the bank has engaged with its client regarding the adverse human rights impact requiring them to take action or details on whether the bank itself took appropriate action. Monitoring
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
No information available on whether the bank monitored measures taken by its client to address the impacts associated with the project. Myanmar: Equity exposure to companies linked to the military regime (October 2021)
0
0
0
0
Response
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
The bank responded, noting that it was in fact not exposed to one company recorded in the research, Bharat Electronics, and confirming that the data source used had been engaged and confirmed and addressed the error. However the bank did not comment on the exposure our research indentified to 16 other companies with ties to the Myanmar junta. Action
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
No information available on whether the bank engaged with its client or investee companies or took appropriate action. Monitoring
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
No information available about whether the bank monitored progress. More info
UN human rights complaint regarding Saudi Aramco and its financiers (July 2023)
0
0
0
0
Response
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
The bank did not respond. Action
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
No information available on whether the bank engaged with its client or took appropriate action. Monitoring
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
No information available on whether the bank monitored progress. More info
ArcelorMittal steel impacts (June 2024)
0
0
0
n/a
Response
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
The bank's confirms that the information has been shared with relevant departments, but the response neither acknowledges its link to the impact, nor ArcelorMittal. Action
0
Out of 1
Rationale for score
No information available on whether the bank engaged with its client or took appropriate action. Monitoring
n/a
Rationale for score
The impact was not raised over a year ago and therefore is not scored on monitoring progress. More info
Average
75%
0
0
0
0
Banks and Climate
Banks and Climate
The 2025 Banking on Climate Chaos report showed that Goldman Sachs provided $87.2 bn in financing to the fossil fuel industry between 2021 and 2024. In 2024 only, Goldman Sachs provided $28.5 bn, including $14.5 bn for oil, gas and coal companies expanding fossil fuels. Goldman Sachs was one of the 10 largest fossil fuel financiers in 2024. Find further details on Goldman Sachs' fossil fuel portfolio and how it compares to other large banks globally on the Banking on Climate Chaos website below.
Partner organisation Reclaim Finance tracks the coal, oil and gas policies of financial institutions, including banks, in their Coal Policy Tool (CPT) and the Oil and Gas Policy Tracker (OGPT). BankTrack works closely with Reclaim Finance and endorses their policy assessments. Find further details on their assessment of Goldman Sachs’ fossil fuel policy below.
Banks and Human Rights
Banks and Human Rights
BankTrack assessed Goldman Sachs in its 2024 Global Human Rights Benchmark, where it achieved 4 points out of 15 and was ranked as a “follower”.
The bank scored 0.5 out of 3 points on the new “specific rights indicators”, which assess how banks address human rights defenders, Indigenous Peoples’ right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent and environmental rights in their policies and practices.
In addition, Goldman Sachs scored 0 out of 3 on how it responds to alleged human rights violations linked to its finance, which were raised by civil society organisations. More information is detailed in the “Accountability” section of this profile.
The table below shows BankTrack's assessment of how Goldman Sachs has implemented the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Please click on 'expand all details' and 'explanation' for further information on the methodology.
Our policy assessments are always a work in progress. We very much welcome any feedback, especially from banks included in the assessments. Please get in touch at humanrights@banktrack.org.
Global Human Rights Benchmark 2022
BankLast update
Country
Score
Ranking
Details
Goldman Sachs
USA
2.5
Laggard
2.5
0
Explanation
Laggard
Follower
Front runner
Leader
0 - 3 points
3.5 - 6.5 points
7 - 10 points
10.5 - 14 points
For more details see this page.
Global Human Rights Benchmark 2024
BankLast update
Country
Score
Ranking
Details
Goldman Sachs
USA
4
Follower
4
0
Explanation
Laggard
Follower
Moderate achiever
Leader
0 - 3 points
3.5 - 7 points
7.5 - 10.5 points
11 - 15 points
For more details see this page.
Banks and Nature
Banks and Nature
Goldman Sach’s policies for forest-risk sectors (beef, soy, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber and timber) have been assessed by the Forests & Finance coalition, achieving an overall score of 5.1 out of 10 and ranking it as a front runner. Goldman Sach achieved a score of 1.2 out of 10 specifically for its policies related to the beef sector and 6.1 out of 10 for its policies related to the palm oil sector. In addition, BankTrack and the Environmental Paper Network have assessed Goldman Sachs’s policies related to the pulp and paper sector.
Between 2016 and 2022, Goldman provided USD 753 million in credit to companies operating in these forest-risk sectors and held investments amounting to USD 80 million as of 2022. For more information, see the links below.
Forest & Finance Policy Assessment 2022: Overall scores
BankLast update
Country
Score
Ranking
Details
Explanation
A bank can obtain a total of 10 points for the quality of its policies. The total score is based on their scores per sector, weighted against their financing and investment for each sector. For further details on this see here. Based on their overall score, banks are then classified as Laggards, Followers, Front runners or Leaders, as follows:
Laggard
Follower
Front runner
Leader
0 - 1 points
1 - 4 points
4 - 7 points
7 - 10 points
For more details see this page.
Forest & Finance Policy Assessment 2022: Beef
BankLast update
Country
Score
Ranking
Details
Explanation
A bank can obtain a total of 10 points for the quality of its beef policy. The total score is based on their scores per sector, weighted against their financing and investment for each sector. For further details on this see here. Based on their overall score, banks are then classified as Laggards, Followers, Front runners or Leaders, as follows:
Laggard
Follower
Front runner
Leader
0 - 1 points
1 - 4 points
4 - 7 points
7 - 10 points
For more details see this page.
Forest & Finance Policy Assessment 2022: Palm Oil
BankLast update
Country
Score
Ranking
Details
Explanation
A bank can obtain a total of 10 points for the quality of its palm oil policy. The total score is based on their scores per sector, weighted against their financing and investment for each sector. For further details on this see here. Based on their overall score, banks are then classified as Laggards, Followers, Front runners or Leaders, as follows:
Laggard
Follower
Front runner
Leader
0 - 1 points
1 - 4 points
4 - 7 points
7 - 10 points
For more details see this page.
Tracking the NZBA
Tracking the Net Zero Banking Alliance
Goldman Sachs left the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) on 6 December 2024. Before that, as a NZBA member it had committed to reduce its financed emissions to net zero by 2050; within 18 months of joining the alliance set interim targets for 2030 (or sooner) for high emission priority sectors, and within 36 months set further sector targets; set new intermediary targets every 5 years from 2030 onwards; annually publish data on emissions and progress against a transition strategy including climate-related sectoral policies; and take a robust approach to the role of offsets in transition plans. BankTrack will keep track of Goldman Sachs and other ex-NZBA member banks' climate action in a specific section of the NZBA tracker.
Banks and Russia
Banks and Russian Aggression in Ukraine
BankTrack is keeping track of the public response of Goldman Sachs to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. Goldman Sachs has publicly condemned the war. Goldman Sachs is considered by Leave-Russia.org to be "suspending" its operations in Russia. We consider its exposure to Russia as limited, with over $650m of financial assets. Goldman Sachs supports the Russian fossil fuel industry through investments, loans and underwriting. For further details, see the table linked below.
Banks and Steel
Banks and Steel
Partner organisation Reclaim Finance’s 2023 report on metallurgical coal financing showed that Goldman Sachs provided US$ 3.8 billion in loans and underwriting to developers of new metallurgical coal between 2016 and 2022. Find further details on Goldman Sachs’s metallurgical coal financing and and how it compares to other large banks globally in the report.
Reclaim Finance tracks the metallurgical coal policies of financial institutions, including banks, in their Coal Policy Tool. BankTrack works closely with Reclaim Finance and endorses their policy assessments. Find further details on their assessment of Goldman Sachs’s metallurgical coal policy below.
According to a report by Reclaim Finance, between 2016 and June 2023, Goldman Sachs provided $11.5 billion in finance to the fossil-steel industry, making it the 5th largest financier worldwide. Find further details on Goldman Sachs steel financing and how it compares to other large banks globally in the report.
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