Goldman Sachs has ended its policy requiring IPO clients to have diverse boards, citing a legal ruling that ended a similar initiative at the Nasdaq.

Goldman Sachs cancelled a four-year-old policy to only take public companies that had two diverse board members, a spokesperson for the bank said on Tuesday, in the latest such move by corporations expecting greater scrutiny on social policies from U.

Goldman Sachs is ending its policy that mandated companies have a diverse board for the bank to take them public. The rule, a version of which was implemented in 2020, had said the bank would only underwrite the initial public offerings for companies in the U.

Goldman Sachs has dropped its IPO board diversity requirement due to legal challenges and political scrutiny, though it will continue encouraging diverse leadership, The Financial Times reports.

Goldman Sachs is canceling a pledge to ensure diversity on the boards of companies it helps go public. Why it matters: It's the latest corporate rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives following conservative blowback and a series of court rulings calling certain quotas into question.