Goldman Sachs says 1MDB scandal could hit pay for top executives

(Reuters) - The board of Goldman Sachs Group Inc said on Friday it is withholding a bonus worth at least $7 million from former chief executive Lloyd Blankfein until investigations into the bank’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal are resolved.

The bank also introduced a new forfeiture provision in its annual compensation plans for its top executives, including Chief Executive David Solomon and former head Blankfein, relating to the ongoing 1MDB proceedings.

The company said in a regulatory filing its board can reduce pay packages of senior executives if it is later determined that the results of the ongoing probes would have impacted the their year-end compensation decisions.

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Goldman is being investigated by Malaysian authorities and the U.S. Department of Justice for its role as underwriter and arranger of three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion (£5 billion) for 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

The Wall Street bank also said it paid CEO Solomon $23 million in total compensation in 2018, a 9.5 percent jump from 2017 pay. Blankfein received $20.5 million in annual compensation in 2018, down $3.5 million from 2017.   

(Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

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