Goldman Sachs sues Malaysia as 1MDB settlement dispute escalates
- Executives at the Wall Street firm took the unusual step after growing increasingly frustrated with the country’s demands to renegotiate an existing settlement
- Goldman is accusing the Malaysian government of ‘violating its obligations to appropriately credit assets against the guarantee’ offered by the firm in the deal
“We filed for arbitration against the government of Malaysia for violating its obligations to appropriately credit assets against the guarantee provided by Goldman Sachs in our settlement agreement and to recover other assets,” a spokesman for the New York-based bank said in an emailed statement.
Executives at the Wall Street firm had grown increasingly frustrated with the country’s demands to redo its existing 2020 pact in favour of more onerous penalties, and the lack of information tied to the looted assets the nation has been recovering.
The complaint was filed on Wednesday in the London International Court of Arbitration, a person familiar with the matter said.
The 1MDB investment fund became the centre of a multibillion-dollar scandal that spawned probes across continents.