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The
deal includes a $2.5 billion cash payout by Goldman and a
guarantee by the bank to return at least $1.4 billion in assets
linked to 1MDB bonds, Malaysia's finance ministry said in a
statement.
"We are confident that we are securing more money from Goldman
Sachs compared to previous attempts, which were far below
expectations," Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said in a
statement.
"We are also glad to be able to resolve this outside the court
system, which would have cost a lot of time, money and
resources," he said, adding the deal would resolve all
outstanding charges and claims against Goldman Sachs.
Malaysian prosecutors filed charges in December 2018 against
three Goldman Sachs units for misleading investors over bond
sales totalling $6.5 billion that the bank helped raise for
sovereign wealth fund 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd).
Goldman Sachs has consistently denied wrongdoing, saying that
certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied
to it about how proceeds from the bond sales would be used. The
units of Goldman Sachs pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Goldman Sachs confirmed the $3.9 billion settlement and said it
had reached an agreement in principle with Malaysia to resolve
all criminal and regulatory proceedings in the country involving
the firm.
U.S. and Malaysian authorities say about $4.5 billion was stolen
from 1MDB, in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and
implicated former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and
Goldman Sachs, among others.
A Malaysian court will deliver its verdict in the case against
Najib on Tuesday, the first of several corruption trials he
faces linked to the 1MDB scandal.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all
the charges against him.
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