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Goldman Sachs: Turnbull not involved in 1MDB deals
Published:  Mar 12, 2018 11:17 AM
Updated: 3:47 AM

The Australian prime minister's son, Alex Turnbull was not involved in 1MDB transactions with Goldman Sachs, said the company, according to The Australian Financial Review.

"(Alex) had no involvement in the 1MDB transactions. Not surprisingly, we haven't found any electronic communications of (Alex) identifying any improper conduct with respect to these transactions or any action taken against him as a result," the company was quoted as saying.

This had raised questions about Alex's earlier claims that his resignation from Goldman Sachs in Singapore back in 2014 was related to whistleblowing activities concerning 1MDB.

According to The Australian Financial Review, Alex declined to comment on the firm's statement, adding that he did not have access to the said emails.

The report said that Alex's complaint about 1MDB took place in 2012, while he resigned two years later.

The Australian Financial Review claimed to have sighted Alex's 2,000-word resignation letter, indicated that he resigned after being ordered to stop trading in securities linked to his father Malcolm's cabinet portfolio.

At the material time, Malcolm (photo) was the communications minister, and Goldman Sachs' compliance officers ordered Alex to stop trading in Australian media and technology securities.

The report claimed that Alex's resignation letter saw him complaining about the firm's decision to ban him from trading certain securities was "very broad and crippling."

Alex said he would rather leave before "the restrictions of compliance make it so impossible to make money" that the firm had to "put me out of my misery."

The report also claimed that the Turnbulls had shared investing interests, and both father and son invested in a tech company in 2012.

Malcolm had divested all his interests in September 2013 upon his appointment as communications minister.

Goldman Sachs was an instrumental figure in the 1MDB affair, having helped raise US$6.5 billion in bonds for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013 while raking in US$593 million in commissions.

Singaporean authorities eventually slapped Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner with a 10-year trading ban for improprieties related to the 1MDB transactions.

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