KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reiterated Goldman Sachs Group should be made to pay more than US$600 million in reparations to the Malaysian government for the “disgusting” role it played in facilitating transactions for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Anwar said Goldman Sachs should return “significantly more” than the US$600 million that the bank gained in fees for arranging three bond sales for the state fund.

“It’s a cost to the image of the country; it’s a cost to investments and now it’s a burden shouldered by the government because of the complicity of so many of these so-called credible, renowned financial institutions.

“For them to use a country like Malaysia — which is struggling to reform itself economically, moving up the ladder — really, to me, it’s disgusting,” he was reported as saying by the Financial Times today.

Anwar had made a similar call in the Dewan Rakyat earlier this month, saying Malaysia must claim not only the fees earned by Goldman Sachs, but also compensation for the country’s damaged reputation.

According to the report, Goldman Sachs was told by regulators to tighten its risk oversight and increase reports of internal debates about deals just after the bank completed US$6.5 billion of bond financing for 1MDB.

Golden Sachs, whose two former bankers Tim Leissner and Roger Ng have been indicted by the US Department of Justice, reportedly declined to comment on Anwar’s remarks.