Goldman Sachs CEO says firm is creating a business standards committee to review practices

Goldman Sachs to create a standards committee

NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs’ embattled Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein told investors Friday that the firm is creating a business standards committee to study the bank’s practices in the wake of the civil fraud suit launched by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the criminal probe opened by the Justice Department.

“We need a rigorous self-examination,” Blankfein told investors gathered at the annual shareholders’ meeting Friday, held a few blocks away from the investment firm’s global headquarters in New York. “Our firm must review our core principles.”

He noted there’s been a disconnect between how the company views itself and how outsiders view the firm. The committee, which will report to the board of directors, will review both services and products that Goldman Sachs offers.