Barroso hire not related to Brexit, says Goldman Sachs

Since it was announced on July 8 that Jose Manuel Barroso would be non- executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International, the former Portuguese Prime Minister has faced heavy criticism

New York, July 15: US investment bank Goldman Sachs said Friday that its hiring of former European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso was not related to Britain’s decision to exit the European Union.

A day after French President Francois Hollande labelled Mr Barroso’s new job as “morally unacceptable” because he would be advising the bank on Brexit issues, Goldman stressed that the recruitment was done prior to the June 23 British referendum.

“That decision had nothing to do with the outcome of the Brexit vote,” the bank said in a statement.

“Indeed, we began our discussions at a time when the prevailing view was that the Remain campaign would succeed, an outcome we would have preferred

and publicly supported.”

Since Goldman announced on July 8 that Barroso would be non- executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International, the former Portuguese Prime Minister has come under withering criticism.

Mr Barroso headed the executive arm of the 28nation EU from 2004 to 2014. European politicians say that his inside knowledge of EU affairs, in light of Britain’s shock vote to break with the union, could lead to potential conflicts of interest.

The US bank stressed Friday that Mr Barroso would help advise its clients in Europe and around the world on a range of issues.

Mr Barroso would be assisting a bank which “advised the Greek government and dressed up the deficit figures it gave to the European Union several years ago,” he said. Mr Barroso, Mr Hollande also recalled, was in charge of the EU’s executive arm at the time of the subprime crisis “of which Goldman Sachs was one of the main banks ( responsible)”. France’s minister for Europe Harlem Desir said on Wednesday Mr Barroso was “helping antiEuropeans”.