Malaysia and Goldman Sachs to restart talks about 1MDB settlement deal

On Monday, U.S. international banking giant Goldman Sachs (G.S.) said that it would resume negotiations with the Malaysian government this week to hammer out a multi-billion dollar financial settlement lost in a scandal at sovereign fund 1Malaysian Development Bhd (1MDB).

Goldman Sachs’s top-level executives and members of its legal team arrived on Saturday (July 18)  after obtaining special Malaysian government approval in light of the strict coronavirus travel restrictions.

“The prospects of getting a settlement are strong after both sides have agreed on key parameters in recent weeks that are needed to move forward,” a government official from 1Malaysia said in an interview.

According to some government sources, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz actively engaged with the officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Goldman Sachs to iron out issues in the asset recovery negotiations.

Attorney-General Idrus Harun would lead the 1MDB recovery campaign.