Ironic if the greatest harm done to Goldman Sachs ends up coming from their diving back in where it had once gotten too difficult for them to do business…
Oops, did I say, “diving”? I meant “cultivating”.
Too bad this WSJ article (2016.12.22) is paywalled (but if you can afford it, please go read it there as high-quality journalism needs your support). Unfortunately, however, some might not get to read it for its many good lines, with the WSJ reporting only the facts under an almost Sheldon-esque absence of sarcasm.
So I thought it worthwhile to splice together some of them:
“Investigators have said 1MDB was used by the prime minister as a political slush fund and by associates of his to buy more than $1 billion of real estate, art and other luxuries from London to Beverly Hills, Calif.” “Investigators believe Mr. Low made key decisions at 1MDB, despite holding no official position there, and received hundreds of millions of dollars taken from the fund starting in 2009.” “When the Malaysian fund, which Swiss investigators have labelled a Ponzi scheme, ran into roadblocks in its quest to raise cash, Goldman helped keep the money flowing through bond sales.” “Probes of the fund’s missing billions are under way in several countries.”
“Goldman has consistently said it did nothing wrong and had no way of knowing there might be fraud surrounding 1MDB. The bank has said its main role was raising money it thought would be used for the stated purposes.” “Mr. Low has denied any wrongdoing, as has Mr. Najib, and the prime minister has been cleared by the country’s attorney general. The 1MDB fund has denied it did anything wrong and pledged cooperation with investigations. ”
“Central to Goldman’s 1MDB dealings was Mr. Leissner, 47 years old, an outgoing German who was skilled at getting close to Asian businessmen, according to former colleagues. Some referred to Mr. Leissner, who is married to fashion designer Kimora Lee Simmons,as Dr. Tim, for a doctorate he had from now-defunct Somerset University in Britain.”
“By 2012, 1MDB was struggling with debt. Mr. Leissner advised the fund on a bid to buy some power plants that would provide cash flow. To make the deal, 1MDB needed to raise $1.75 billion, but it didn’t have a credit rating. Goldman suggested the fund find an entity with strong credit to guarantee the issue. Mr. Low, who had Middle East ties, introduced people from Goldman and 1MDB to officials of an Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund, International Petroleum Investment Co., or IPIC.”
“Goldman then got the bonds issued quickly by agreeing to take them onto its own balance sheet, for later sale to investors. The bank has said the risk it assumed in doing things this way justified a high fee. According to the Justice Department asset-forfeiture suits, the bank charged 1MDB $192.5 million, or about 11% of the bond issue. The fee on a deal like that would typically be about $1 million.”
The “deals were approved by five Goldman committees that vet transactions posing financial or legal risk. In doing business with 1MDB, Goldman officials drew reassurance from its status as a state fund with the imprimatur of the Malaysian government and support of the prime minister.”
“At the time, Mr. Najib faced a tough re-election fight, and concerns that he might be tapping 1MDB for money to help him win were discussed openly within Goldman. Mr. Leissner commented to a colleague in early 2013 that he knew 1MDB was operating partly as a political slush fund, according to the now-former colleague. A friend of Mr. Leissner described hearing the same thing from Mr. Leissner about a year later and added that Mr. Leissner also said he was worried some 1MDB money was being stolen for personal enrichment. A person familiar with Mr. Leissner’s thinking said he didn’t hold those views or voice them, calling the notion “revisionist history.””
“Mr. Leissner won praise at partner meetings for the business he brought in. During a late-2014 meeting focused on growth markets, Mr. Blankfein said, “Look at what Tim and Andrea [Vella, who structured the 1MDB bond deals] did in Malaysia.” He added, “We have to do more of that.””