GOLDMAN Sachs should compensate Putrajaya US$7.5 billion (RM31 billion) for its role in issuing bonds for 1Malaysia Development Bhd that ended up being siphoned off, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

He told the Financial Times that the government is taking into account more than the US$600 million in bond fees paid to the bank.

“We are not only looking at just the (bond) fees and issuance (volumes). We are looking for a much larger sum,” he said in an interview with the business paper.

He said the US$7.5 billion includes the sum of three 1MDB bonds arranged by Goldman Sachs, amounting to US$6.5 billion, another US$1 billion to cover the US$600 million in fees that the bank earned from arranging the bonds, as well as the bond coupons, deemed higher than the market rate.

Putrajaya previously said it would demand a refund of the US$600 million in fees.

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, who is poised to take over as prime minister, has said Goldman Sachs should be made to repay more than the US$600 million.

Lim said Putrajaya is not negotiating with the bank and will let the legal process take its course following charges filed against Goldman Sachs, its subsidiaries, two ex-bankers and key 1MDB figures.

The charges, under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007, for fraud in the issuance of the 1MDB bonds were filed earlier this week. – December 21, 2018.