SEC reaches settlement with ex-Goldman Sachs exec Tim Leissner over FCPA violations
Leissner has agreed to a settlement of the alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that includes a permanent bar from the securities industry.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today announces charges against former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive Tim Leissner for engaging in a corruption scheme. Leissner has agreed to a settlement of the alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) that includes a permanent bar from the securities industry.
According to the SEC’s order, beginning in 2012, Leissner, as participating managing director of Goldman Sachs, used a third party intermediary to bribe high-ranking government officials in Malaysia and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The order states that these bribes enabled Goldman Sachs to obtain lucrative business from Malaysian government owned investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhard (1MDB), including underwriting $6.5 billion in bond offerings. The order further finds that Leissner personally received more than $43 million in illicit payments for his role in facilitating the bribe scheme.
Leissner agreed to the SEC’s order finding that he violated the antibribery, internal accounting controls, and books and records provisions of the federal securities laws and agreed to be permanently barred from the securities industry.
The SEC’s order requires Leissner to pay disgorgement of $43.7 million, which will be offset by amounts paid pursuant to a forfeiture order as part of a resolution in a previously instituted parallel criminal action by the United States Department of Justice.
As FinanceFeeds has reported, in July this year, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced it was banning Tim Leissner from re-entering the industry for life in connection with his crimes relating to 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
In December 2018, Tim Leissner was banned by the Singaporean government for life from participating in any securities industry activity in Singapore as a result of his embroilment in the multi-billion dollar incident at 1MDB, representing the latest action by a government over the alleged crimes surrounding the Malaysian state investment fund.
