Goldman Sachs CEO’s salary cut by $10 million over bribery scandal

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon’s 2020 salary was cut by $10 million to $17.5 million due to the bank’s role in the 1MDB Malaysian bribery scandal, reported AFP quoting documents filed on Tuesday.

A securities filing said, “The amounts of remuneration reflect the decision announced by the board of directors.” The filing also added details on pay-cuts for COO John Waldron and CFO Stephen Scherr.

Also read: Goldman Sachs to pay record $2.9 billion fine over 1MDB scandal

The filing said that while the three were not “aware of the firm’s participation in any illicit activity at the time the firm arranged the 1MDB bond transactions, the Board views the 1MDB matter as an institutional failure.”

Goldman Sachs pleaded guilty in October over its role in the scandal, and agreed to pay almost $3 billion to close US investigations.

Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak was last year sentenced to 12 years in jail on corruption charges linked to the scandal that led to the downfall of his government.

The firm had last year,  “accepted responsibility” in the $1.6 billion bribery case, the largest ever on record, which also includes charges of money laundering through the US financial system.

According to the US Justice Department, the firm had helped the Malaysian government raise $6.5 billion for their sovereign wealth fund. Between 2009 and 2015, over $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by high-ranking officials and their associates.