Episode 166 -- The Goldman Sachs FCPA Settlement for Nearly $3 Billion

The Justice Department finally closed out its investigation of Goldman Sachs’ massive bribery scheme involving Malaysia’s 1MDB fund.  The case is now the largest in US FCPA history (based on its payment to DOJ and related US agencies).

Goldman Sachs entered into  three-year deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) with the filing of a criminal information charging conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA.  At the same time, Goldman Sach’s Mayalaysia subsidiary plead guilty to conspiracy to violate the FCPA.

Under the terms of settlement, Goldman will pay a criminal penalty and disgorgement of just over $2.9 billion.  Goldman reached parallel resolutions with foreign enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, along with domestic agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission ($606 million in disgorgement and penalty of $400 million), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ($154 million), the New York State Department of Financial Services ($150 million).  DOJ will credit approximately $1.6 billion in payments with respect to these parallel resolutions.

In this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews the underlying conduct and the settlement terms.