HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s financial regulator has banned former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner from re-entering the industry for life for his crimes linked to the multi-billion-dollar scandal at the Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.
The sanction is latest for Leissner who has already been barred from the banking sector in the United States and Singapore for his links to the scandal. Goldman itself is being probed by the US Justice Department for its role as underwriter and arranger for $6.5 billion worth of 1MDB bonds.
Apart from Leissner, another former Goldman banker Roger Ng and Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho have been charged in the United States for links to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.
An estimated $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates between 2009 and 2014, the US Justice Department has alleged.
Leissner, a former partner at Goldman Sachs in Asia, pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and agreed to forfeit $43.7 million.
Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said it considered Leissner’s conduct demonstrated “a serious lack of honesty and integrity” and called into question his fitness and properness to be a licensed person.
A Goldman Sachs spokesman said Leissner deliberately hid certain activities from the bank and repeatedly violated its policies and procedures.
“We continue to cooperate with all authorities looking into these matters,” he said.
A lawyer for Leissner could not be immediately reached in the United States outside of usual business hours.
Leissner was licensed under Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Ordinance for activities including advising on securities and corporate finance for Goldman Sachs between April 1, 1998 and Feb. 24, 2016, the SFC statement said.
He is currently not licensed by the SFC, it added.
In March, the US Federal Reserve barred Leissner and Ng from the banking industry for their involvement in “a scheme that illegally diverts billions of dollars from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.”
Singapore’s central bank had also issued a lifetime prohibition order against Leissner in December last year, upgrading a 2017 10-year prohibition order against him.
At least six countries, including Malaysia, which has also filed charges against Goldman and its two former bankers, the United States and Switzerland, have been investigating the alleged thefts from 1MDB.
Hong Kong regulator bans former Goldman banker Tim Leissner for life over 1MDB scandal
Hong Kong regulator bans former Goldman banker Tim Leissner for life over 1MDB scandal
- Tim Leissner has already been barred from the banking sector in the United States and Singapore
- An estimated $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates between 2009 and 2014
Saudi Arabia’s NDMC raises $13bn for infrastructure projects
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia raised $13 billion through a seven-year syndicated loan as the Kingdom steps up funding for infrastructure projects spanning power, water and public utilities.
The financing was arranged by the National Debt Management Center as part of the government’s medium-term borrowing strategy, which aims to diversify funding sources and secure financing at competitive costs, the agency said in a statement.
The transaction supports Saudi Arabia’s broader push to upgrade infrastructure under its Vision 2030 economic transformation program, as the government accelerates investment in utilities and development projects alongside private-sector participation.
“This transaction aims to leverage market opportunities to execute alternative government financing activities that contribute to economic growth, including the financing of development and infrastructure projects aligned with Saudi Vision 2030,” said NDMC.
NDMC was established in 2015 within the Ministry of Finance as the Debt Management Office before being restructured into its current form, with a mandate to manage public debt and meet the government’s financing needs across short-, medium- and long-term horizons.
The syndicated loan follows a series of recent debt market transactions. In December, the center raised SR7.01 billion ($1.87 billion) through a domestic sukuk issuance split across five tranches, with the first one valued at SR1.23 billion set to mature in 2027.
The second tranche amounted to SR335 million, maturing in 2029.
The third tranche was valued at SR1.180 billion maturing in 2032, and the fourth tranche was SR1.692 billion set to expire in 2036.
The fifth tranche was worth SR2.573 billion, maturing in 2039.
In September, NDMC completed the issuance of a $5.5 billion (SR20.63 billion) international sukuk under the Kingdom’s Global Trust Certificate Issuance Program.
The offering — the country’s first international sukuk based on an Ijarah structure — was issued in two tranches. A five-year sukuk maturing in 2030 raised $2.25 billion (SR8.44 billion), while a 10-year tranche maturing in 2035 secured $3.25 billion (SR12.19 billion, NDMC said at the time.
The center added that the issuance aligns with its strategy to diversify the investor base and meet Saudi Arabia’s financing requirements through international debt capital markets in an efficient and effective manner.
