Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s prime minister, has refused to rule out banning Goldman Sachs from the country as a result of its role in the 1MDB scandal that unfolded under his predecessor, warning the investment bank “we are watching”.
“Goldman Sachs has done things which are wrong that they shouldn’t have done”, Mr Mahathir said in a CNBC interview when asked if Goldman had become persona non grata in Malaysia. “But we want to see the results of all this investigation and the actions taken against [former senior executive Tim] Leissner, for example.”
Goldman is grappling with an investigation by the US Department of Justice into its role in the scandal after prosecutors announced charges in early November against Mr Leissner and Roger Ng, who also worked in south-east Asia for the bank.