Management changes may well be in the works at Goldman Sachs, which continues to be dogged by controversy over its sales, marketing and other practices related to various CDO deals, according to a tantalizing report to clients from William Tanona, a bank analyst at UBS and former Goldman employee.

Tanona did not hazard any guesses as to which executives would be involved. "Any turnover will concern investors despite the firm's deep bench. GS's management team is very strong; however, missteps on the public relations front have further tarnished the firm's reputation," he wrote, reports Bloomberg.

It's very hard to read the tea leaves regarding Goldman executive changes. There are lots of opinions as to whether CEO Lloyd Blankfein is inclined to make a dramatic move. (We'll speak more about that in an upcoming editor's commentary.)

But Tanona is right on one thing: the bench is certainly deep at Goldman Sachs. The next CEO, whoever that might be (perhaps the board has not fully decided), will almost certainly be an insider.

It's also fair to say the news that the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has referred its massive report on Wall Street CDO dealings to the Justice Department and the SEC is a major event for the board as it ponders managerial transitions.

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