Goldman Sachs has promoted deputy general counsel Michael Bosworth to the acting GC role, replacing Kathy Ruemmler, who announced she was stepping down earlier this year amid scrutiny over her ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Bosworth took on the new role on Wednesday (1 July), Reuters reported. Ruemmler signalled her intention to retire from the chief legal officer position back in February after documents released by the US Department of Justice showed Goldman’s top lawyer had accepted gifts from Epstein and had advised him on how to respond to media questions about his crimes.
Ruemmler officially stood down as CLO on 30 June after roughly six years at Goldman, five of them as CLO.
Bosworth, meanwhile, has been with Goldman for just under four years, joining as deputy GC in 2022. Like Ruemmler, Bosworth is a Latham & Watkins alum, having practised there as a partner for two years before joining Goldman.
He previously worked at MacAndrews & Forbes as deputy GC and as deputy counsel to the president during Barack Obama’s second term in office, arriving just as Ruemmler left the White House to join Latham.
Earlier in his career, Bosworth spent five years in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he was co-chief of its complex frauds unit and deputy chief of its public corruption unit. He also previously clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
Goldman CEO David Solomon is reportedly planning to keep Ruemmler on as an adviser and senior counsellor following her resignation as CLO, according to Bloomberg, raising concerns from Democratic lawmakers Elizabeth Warren and Raja Krishnamoorthi.
In a letter, the lawmakers said Solomon’s plan to keep Ruemmler on as an adviser raised questions about his suitability to lead the bank.
The letter stated: “The information uncovered in recent months not only raises serious questions as to whether Goldman Sachs either failed to conduct proper due diligence or viewed Ruemmler’s relationship with Epstein as appropriate when appointing her as the firm’s top lawyer, but now calls into question your professional judgement and fitness to continue leading one of the largest banks in the United States.”
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