Malaysia Won't Compromise in Goldman 1MDB Talks, Anwar Says

(Bloomberg) -- Anwar Ibrahim, head of Malaysia's ruling party, said the nation “will not compromise” in its talks with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. over the 1MDB scandal, and the bank “must bear responsibility.”

The nation has a responsibility to uncover any crimes the investment bank may have committed, Anwar said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. He said he's not sure whether Malaysia can get the $7.5 billion it's seeking from Goldman as compensation for the scandal.

• Says it's “not feasible” that top officials at Goldman Sachs were unaware of the situation as the deal was under way.
• “The 1MDB bond offerings were designed to raise money to benefit Malaysia, and 100% of the net proceeds from the transactions were deposited into 1MDB accounts,” Goldman Sachs spokesman Jake Siewert said in an emailed statement. “Not a cent of those funds ever passed through any account controlled by Goldman Sachs, and none of the funds were moved or redirected under our authority. Instead, a huge portion of those funds was stolen for the benefit of members of the Malaysian government and their associates, and it is abundantly clear that members of that government and 1MDB lied to Goldman about the use of proceeds from these transactions.”
• FEB. 1: Goldman Gives Solomon, Blankfein Pay Packages With 1MDB Caveat
• QUICKTAKE: The 1MDB Deals That Continue to Haunt Goldman Sachs

--With assistance from Ben Foldy and Scarlet Fu.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sridhar Natarajan in New York at snatarajan15@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Steve Dickson

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