How 1MDB overpaid Goldman Sachs

KINIBIZ As the fires of the 1MDB controversy, long confined to embers unnoticed by the public, continue burning this year, authorities foreign and domestic have turned their attention to one of the company’s friends - Goldman Sachs.

It is no secret that Goldman Sachs seems to enjoy an intimate working relationship with 1MDB, having seen its services engaged for all three of 1MDB’s foreign market bond issuances.

However, the relationship raises questions as Goldman Sachs also seems to have reaped what appears to be extremely generous fees from these bond issuances, far above normal rates, which KINIBIZ looks more closely at further in this article.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is now reviewing the firm’s business relationship with 1MDB as part of a broader probe into the latter, Reuters reported in October 2015. In November, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) also visited the firm’s KL office in its own probe into 1MDB.

These tie into a wider global investigation across three continents over possible money laundering activities involving 1MDB. However, as questions grow over 1MDB’s questionable dealings over the years, public attention has not perhaps been sufficiently directed towards the role Goldman Sachs have played.

And it has been quite a role - of all 1MDB’s different borrowings, Goldman Sachs has been closely involved in arranging the single largest share of its RM42 billion or so in total borrowings.