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These comments came after the New York Times announced that US prosecutors were reviewing the meeting in a criminal investigation into the bank, citing unidentified people aware of the facts.
The paper reports that Blankfein, then CEO of Goldman Sachs, had a face-to-face meeting with Low, but the bank denied it.
"Blankfein had a high-level introductory meeting in December 2012 with Aabar's CEO, an existing client of the company," said Goldman Sachs in a statement, referring to the fund's annual fundraiser. investment Abu Dhabi.
"At Aabar's request, Mr. Low accompanied the CEO to this meeting."
He "does not remember any face-to-face meetings with Mr. Low nor do we see any minutes suggesting that such a meeting took place".
The fury over Goldman Sachs' role in raising funds for the Malaysian public investment fund, known as 1MDB, weighed on the bank's shares after the Malaysian finance minister announced he would ask full refund of all fees he paid for 1MDB transactions.
The United States alleges that a small group of Malaysians, led by Low, misappropriated 1MDB money into personal accounts apparently disguised as legitimate businesses, and donated some of these funds to the authorities. Goldman Sachs realized $ 593 million in three bond sales, which earned $ 6.5 billion for 1MBD in 2012 and 2013, which is less than banks do with government.
Malaysian Probe
Global 1MDB investigations have accelerated since the previous Malaysian government was overthrown in the May elections and the new government reopened the scandal's national record. The former Malaysian leader, Najib Razak, now faces dozens of corruption and money laundering charges related to the public fund, whose full name is 1Malaysia Development Bhd. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
1MDB has never dealt directly with Low because all agreements and payments have been paid to joint ventures such as PetroSaudi and Aabar, Najib said in a message posted Thursday on Facebook. Low never worked for nor represented 1MDB, and instead acted for "Arab parties," wrote Najib.
The former prime minister, who once chaired the 1MDB advisory board, said that the responsibility for detecting wrongdoing in the fund rested with his lawyers, auditors and Goldman, who had organized sales of bonds whose proceeds had been diverted. .
"The responsibility of the bank is to look after the interests of Malaysia, if it fails to protect the interests of Malaysia, you have to tell them something is wrong," he said.
At least three senior executives or former Goldman executives have been implicated in the first charges brought against people by US prosecutors. – Bloomberg
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