SINGAPORE - The Monetary Authority of Singapore has refuted a US newspaper report alleging that Goldman Sachs had wired US$3 billion (S$4.06 billion) from a bond issue for the scandal-hit Malaysian state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to a Singapore branch of a small Swiss private bank.
According to a story published in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Mr Kevin Wong, Goldman's lawyer and a partner with law firm Linklaters in Singapore, had sent a note to Goldman bankers alerting them that the money was to be sent to a private bank. The report, citing unnamed sources, said Goldman had checked the credentials of the bank, Switzerland's BSI SA, and found no reason to not send money there.
A spokesman for MAS said that "no bank in Singapore received the US$3 billion wire transfer from Goldman Sachs in relation to the bond issuance for 1MDB."
When contacted, Goldman Sachs and Mr Wong declined to comment. BSI said: "We have no further comments on the issues you have raised."
