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Goldman Sachs hit with record fines in the US over its role in 1MDB scandal
30 Oct 2020 12:00 am
Duration: 24:22
As corruption and embezzlement scandals go, the 1MDB affair was breathtaking in both its scale and its audacity. In 2015, then Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was accused of channeling into personal bank accounts funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhard, a government-run strategic development company. A total of 4.5 billion US dollars went missing, with most of it still unaccounted for. The role played in moving the stolen funds out of the country by commercial bank Goldman Sachs has prompted the US investigation that culminated in a record fine, earmarked for enforcers in the US, the UK and Singapore. The $2.9 billion penalty has highlighted how the bank’s safeguards failed to stop the suspicious transfers and how enforcers around the world can work together to clamp down on lax oversight.
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23 Oct 2020 3:49 pm by Martin CoyleThe British slice of Goldman Sachs’ hefty global 1MDB settlement represented a modest 5 percent of the $2.3 billion total.
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23 Oct 2020 9:00 am by Ben LucasHong Kong’s securities regulator was keen to emphasize today that its $350 million fine against Goldman Sachs — the largest fine in the city’s history.
Editorial Team
James Panichi Senior Editor, Asia Pacific

James, an Australian journalist with over 25 years’ experience in print and electronic media, is spearheading MLex’s coverage of regulatory risk in Australia and New Zealand. In 2016, James was appointed as MLex’s managing editor for continental Europe, overseeing the Brussels bureau’s coverage of EU regulatory affairs and managing a team of 16 journalists in Brussels and Geneva. Previously James worked for the European Voice newspaper, before joining the European operation of US political website... Read more
Martin Coyle Senior Correspondent

Martin Coyle is a senior correspondent, based in MLex's London office, reporting daily on bribery and corruption issues in the UK and Europe. Previously he was a senior editor at Thomson Reuters where he covered anti-money laundering, financial crime and regulatory enforcement issues. Prior to that he was editor of The Accountant, the world's oldest accounting publication, and International Accounting Bulletin, a bi-monthly business journal owned by Lafferty.
Ben Lucas Correspondent

Ben Lucas is a correspondent based in MLex's Hong Kong office covering financial crime in the Asia-Pacific region. Before moving to Hong Kong in 2018, Ben reported on financial crime and compliance in the UK and Europe for MLex from our London office. He joined MLex in November 2015 after graduating with a Master's degree in journalism from City, University of London.
Richard Vanderford Correspondent

Richard covers antitrust and corruption in New York, as well as competition developments in Canada. He covered litigation in Manhattan before joining MLex.