GOLDMAN Sachs wants to put behind the 1MBD affair and help return money to Malaysia, reports Bloomberg.

The business daily quoted Goldman Sachs president and CEO John Waldron as saying in a Bloomberg Television interview today that “we want the Malaysian people to be taken care of”.

“We’re looking to put it behind us and get the Malaysian people the money that they deserve.

“We’re focused on getting it behind us and resolving it in an appropriate manner,” Waldron said.

It’s hard to give a time frame for when the 1MDB matter will be resolved, he said, declining to comment on the prospects of any settlement with the US Department of Justice.

Goldman Sachs isn’t facing any restriction on its business in in the US as a result of 1MDB, Waldron said.

Last month, Putrajaya filed charges against 17 current and former directors of three Goldman Sachs subsidiaries.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas said the three subsidiaries are Goldman Sachs International, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, and Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte.

The charges pertain to those filed in December last year against the same three subsidiaries, as well as former Goldman Sachs employees Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, and former 1Malaysia Development Bhd executive Jasmine Loo Ai Swan and fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho.

Thomas said among those charged were directors at the three Goldman Sachs subsidiaries between May 2012 and March 2013 and that it was their actions that had brought about the charges against their employers.

In the December case, the three Goldman Sachs subsidiaries, Leissner, Ng, Loo and Low were charged with perpetrating a scheme to defraud the government of Malaysia and purchasers of three 1MDB bonds.

The bonds with a face value of US$6.5 billion had been underwritten and arranged by Goldman Sachs, and issued by 1MDB subsidiaries.

The next hearing in Malaysia’s case against Goldman Sachs is due to take place on Monday. – September 25, 2019.