James J. Schiro Nominated for Election to Goldman Sachs Board

New York, March 20, 2009 – The Board of Directors of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) today announced the nomination of James J. Schiro for election as an independent director of the firm at the firm’s annual meeting of shareholders in May 2009. If Mr. Schiro is elected, the Goldman Sachs Board would consist of 12 directors, ten of whom would be independent directors. Mr. Schiro would also serve on the Audit, Compensation and Corporate Governance and Nominating Committees of the Board upon election.

“Jim Schiro’s deep experience in the global capital markets, from successfully leading the transformation of a global insurance company to his previous auditing and financial reporting expertise, will be of tremendous value to our shareholders and our people,” said Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. “We very much appreciate his willingness to serve on our board and I look forward to benefitting from his advice and counsel.”

Mr. Schiro is the Chief Executive Officer of Zurich Financial Services, an insurance-based financial services provider with a global network of subsidiaries and offices in North America and Europe as well as in Asia Pacific, Latin America and other markets. He previously served as Zurich’s Chief Operating Officer – Finance. Prior to joining Zurich, Mr. Schiro had a distinguished career at Price Waterhouse and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC that began in 1967. He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Price Waterhouse from 1995 to 1998, and in 1998 he led the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand to form PricewaterhouseCoopers, for which he subsequently served as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Schiro serves as a director of PepsiCo, Inc. and Royal Philips Electronics. He is also active in a number of professional, international and non-profit organizations, including The Geneva Association, the Institute of International Finance, the European Financial Services Round Table, the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, the Advisory Board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, the Institute for Advanced Study, St. John’s University and the Lucerne Festival and American Friends of the Lucerne Festival.

Mr. Schiro graduated from St. John’s University with a degree in business administration and later received an honorary doctorate of commercial sciences from that institution. He also earned a degree from The Amos Tuck School Executive Program at Dartmouth College and is a Certified Public Accountant.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities and investment management services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.

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