GOLDMAN Sachs, the bank at the heart of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal, could end up paying less than US$2 billion (RM8.4 billion) as part of its settlement with the Department of Justice, reports Bloomberg.

In August, Putrajaya filed charges against 17 current and former directors of three Goldman Sachs subsidiaries – Goldman Sachs International, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, and Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte – for perpetrating a scheme to defraud the Malaysian government and purchasers of three 1MDB bonds.

The American bank helped the state investor raise US$6.5 billion between 2012 and 2013. It pocketed a US$600 million fee from the deal brokered by what Goldman Sachs termed “rogue employees”, including its former Southeast Asia head Tim Leissner and Roger Ng.

The DoJ and other federal agencies are seeking penalties between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion against Goldman Sachs, said Bloomberg quoting sources, to resolve the criminal and regulatory probes.

The amount is far less than the US $9 billion figure cited by some analysts. Malaysian negotiators are also considering settling against Goldman Sachs for less than half of the US$7.5 billion in fines and costs demanded by the government.

Malaysian representatives have discussed figures between US$2 billion and US$3 billion, though the final number may be different, Bloomberg reported earlier.

The latest settlement could be announced as soon as next month, the financial portal said, the bulk of the penalties going to DoJ.

Goldman Sachs shares climbed on the news. – December 7, 2019.