ADVERTISEMENT

Goldman Sachs Fined $126 Million by U.K. Watchdogs for 1MDB Role

Goldman Sachs Fined $126 Million by U.K. Watchdogs for 1MDB Role

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will pay $126 million in U.K. penalties for its role in the 1MDB scandal, drawing a line under a years-long investigation into the bank’s involvement with the Malaysian investment fund.

The Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority said Thursday their fines were part of the $2.9 billion globally-coordinated resolution reached with the bank.

“When confronted with allegations of bribery and staff misconduct, the firm’s mishandling allowed severe misconduct to go unaddressed,” said Mark Steward, FCA executive director of enforcement and market oversight. “There is no amnesty for firms that tackle financial crime poorly.”

The probes into the Wall Street firm focused on its work raising $6.5 billion in 2012 and 2013 for the fund formally known as 1Malaysia Development Bhd., much of which was allegedly siphoned off by people connected to the country’s former prime minister.

Goldman’s investment-banking group, led at the time by now-Chief Executive Officer David Solomon, collected an unusually high $600 million in fees from the bond sales.

The settlement follows Goldman’s July agreement with Malaysia that included a payment of $2.5 billion, as well as guarantees that the Asian nation will get at least an additional $1.4 billion from 1MDB assets seized by authorities around the world.

The 1MDB case centers on a conspiracy that spawned probes in Asia, the U.S. and Europe. Authorities spent years tracking funds that allegedly flowed from 1MDB into high-end art and real estate, a super yacht and even the Hollywood movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.