US$600m reparations too little for Goldman’s ‘disgusting’ role — Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reiterated that Goldman Sachs Group should be made to pay back more than the amount it received from the Malaysian government for facilitating bond sales for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) due to its “disgusting” role in the matter.

Anwar said the US investment bank should return “significantly more” than the US$600 million it gained in fees from Putrajaya for arranging the three bond sales for the state fund.

“It is a cost to the image of the country, it is a cost to investments and now it is a burden shouldered by the government because of the complicity of so many of these so-called credible, renowned financial institutions,” the Financial Times (FT) quoted him as saying.

“For them to use a country like Malaysia — which is struggling to reform itself economically, moving up the ladder — really, to me, it is disgusting,” he told the UK daily.

Anwar had made a similar call in parliament earlier this month, saying Malaysia must claim not only the fees earned by Goldman Sachs but also compensation for the country’s damaged reputation.

According to the FT report, Goldman Sachs was told by regulators to tighten its risk oversight and increase reports of internal debates about deals just after the bank completed US$6.5 billion of bond financing for 1MDB.

It added that Goldman Sachs, whose two former bankers, Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, have been indicted by the US Department of Justice, declined to comment on Anwar’s remarks.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Nov 28, 2018.

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