KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 25): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the commissions and fees earned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc in the issuance of bonds for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) subsidiaries is "appropriate".

"The yield obtained by Goldman Sachs from the bond issuance, fees and token is appropriate comparable  to the size of the issuance, tenure, liquidity and credit risk because the bonds were issued at regular discounted rate," he said in a  parliamentary written reply to Petaling Jaya Utara Member of Parliament Tony Pua today. 

"Any differential in the issue price and the net yield of the bonds consists not only of the fees and other expenditures but also the effective yield which takes into account the discount and the remaining bond tenure," added Najib.

Pua asked Najib, who is the Finance Minister and chairman of 1MDB's advisory board, to state the amount of commissions, fees and charges recorded in the prospectus bonds at US$3 billion, US$1.75 billion and US$1.75 billion for 1MDB Global Investment, 1MDB Energy and 1MDB Energy  (Langat) Ltd respectively.

The Opposition lawmaker also asked the prime minister to state the amount paid as fees to Goldman Sachs and the discount provided to the bond investors.