Goldman Sachs confident of hitting strategic targets: CFO

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs remains confident of meeting strategic targets laid out earlier this year, including stripping out $1.3 billion in costs over the next three years, Chief Financial Officer Stephen Scherr said on Monday.

“We’re making meaningful progress on our $1.3 billion medium-term expense target,” Scherr said at a conference hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The bank is more confident in its ability to move people and businesses out of expensive cities such as New York into cheaper locations, helping drive cost savings, Scherr said.

“That’s not to say we’re any less committed to New York or London or Hong Kong, but we now have a greater level of confidence about the ability to further penetrate locations such as Salt Lake City or Dallas or Bangalore,” he said.

The bank is interested in bolt-on acquisitions, Scherr said, but continues to set a “high bar” for anything more substantial.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Nick Zieminski; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)