Blankfein at Goldman to keep both jobs

NEW YORK, May 7 (UPI) -- New York financial firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shareholders agreed to let Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein keep both of his jobs.

Only 19 percent of shareholders voted at an annual company meeting in New York for a non-binding proposal that would have pressured the Goldman board to split Blankfein's job into two parts, The New York Times reported Friday.

Before the vote, Blankfein told shareholders the firm should return to its "core principles."

The company -- facing a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit charging it with rigging mortgage-backed securities so they would fail -- must "renew the core principles that have sustained us for 141 years," Blankfein said.

"Questions have been raised that have gone to the heart of our must fundamental value: How we treat our clients," Blankfein said in a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Goldman Sachs has dropped in value by about $20 billion since the SEC lawsuit was filed. There have also been private lawsuits filed.

Amid all the controversy, some had said a leadership change would have placated shareholders and the SEC. Blankfein, before the vote, said, "I will not be stepping down."