Are we about to see some big moves by Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to get more shareholder friendly? The troubled bank has hired Bess Joffe as vice president-governance. She worked for five years at the London proxy firm Hermes Equity Ownership Services.

She worked with underperforming companies to alter their boards and to improve disclosure in the past. She was said to be involved in a successful push last year by shareholders of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to split the CEO and chairman job. Joffe has also been an outspoken critic of bank pay and risk management practices.

This might be seen as an example of a powerful organization buying a critic. But that notion will be dispelled if the bank ends up making some changes that shareholder advocates would approve. The bank has long resisted splitting the CEO and chairman job, but the time may be ripe for Lloyd Blankfein (Lloyd Blankfein news) to give up the latter.

The arrival of Joffe comes as the bank is taking steps to revamp its image and the way it conducts business. Goldman's new Business Standards Committee is examining conflicts of interest and attempting to set some best practices for structured products. There are some signs that the bank is still seen as an industry pace-setter but one that clients perhaps do not fully trust.

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