Goldman Sachs’ Rogers to step back from chief of staff role-memo

NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) – John Rogers, an influential Goldman Sachs (GS.N) executive, will step back from his role as chief of staff next month, according to an internal memo.

He will be succeeded by Russell Horwitz, a Goldman veteran who will rejoin the bank after working at Citadel, according to the memo. Rogers will continue his other responsibilities at the firm including secretary of the company’s board.

The moves are part of internal succession planning, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Rogers “has increasingly been spending significant time on the regulatory landscape, as we manage the greatest amount of rule-making since Dodd-Frank,” Goldman’s CEO David Solomon wrote in the memo. “John will continue to focus on these areas.”

Goldman Sachs has seen a number of high-profile departures and retirements in recent months, as it refocuses its strategy on its core areas of investment banking, trading and asset & wealth management following an ill-fated foray into consumer banking.

Goldman Sachs profit dropped 60% in the second quarter, missing estimates, as writedowns in the investment bank’s consumer businesses and real estate investments weighed on earnings.

Goldman last month brought back a former senior executive Tom Montag to its board. The board supports Solomon’s focus on its core Wall Street businesses and asset management, Reuters reported last month citing two sources.

Horwitz, who previously worked at Goldman for 16 years, will rejoin Goldman Sachs as a partner and a member of the management committee, reporting to Solomon, the memo said.

Since leaving the firm, he served as chief global affairs officer at Citadel, where he was responsible for communications, marketing, regulatory and government affairs, and philanthropy.

The New York Times reported earlier on the appointment.

Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Conor Humphries

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