Hong Kong bans former Goldman partner Tim Leissner for life for role in 1MDB scandal
- ‘Leissner’s conduct demonstrates a serious lack of honesty and integrity’, SFC says
- Leissner pleaded guilty in August last year to criminal charges brought against him by US Department of Justice
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission said on Wednesday it was banning former Goldman Sachs (Asia) partner Tim Leissner from working as a securities and financial adviser in the city for life, in relation to the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal.
Leissner pleaded guilty in August last year to criminal charges brought against him by the US Department of Justice for money laundering and corruption under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
According to the Department of Justice, US$4.5 billion was siphoned from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014, a period in which Leissner was licensed by the SFC.
“The SFC considers that Leissner’s conduct demonstrates a serious lack of honesty and integrity, and calls into question his fitness and properness to be a licensed person,” the commission said in a statement.
Leissner was not immediately available for comment.
He was licensed by the SFC between April 1998 and February 2016, covering the period between 2009 and 2014, during which he is said to have conspired with others to get business from 1MDB for Goldman through bribes and kickbacks to government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi.