Goldman's 1MDB Settlement Is a Price Worth Paying
With a U.S. presidential election months away, the Wall Street bank didn't have time to wait.
1MDB can’t fade from the headlines soon enough for Goldman.
Photographer: Nadirah Zakariya/BloombergGoldman Sachs Group Inc. finally has a Malaysia deal it can be proud of. The $3.9 billion settlement the New York-based bank reached over its role in raising money for troubled sovereign wealth fund 1MDB didn’t come cheap. It’s nevertheless likely to prove a shrewd piece of business.
Timing was critical for Goldman, a fact that Malaysian negotiators may have exploited to their advantage. Under the settlement, the bank will make a $2.5 billion payment and guarantee that at least another $1.4 billion will come from assets of 1MDB seized by authorities around the world. In exchange, Malaysia will drop all criminal and regulatory proceedings against the bank, which has consistently denied wrongdoing.