New York regulator seeks details from Goldman on Malaysian fund: source

By Suzanne Barlyn

(Reuters) – New York state regulators have asked Goldman Sachs Group Inc for details about probes into billions of dollars it raised in a bond offering for a scandal-hit Malaysian fund, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The New York State Department of Financial Services, in a letter sent late Thursday, asked Goldman for a report on its in-house investigation into the matter, as well as others by U.S. and foreign regulators, said the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

The letter to Goldman concerns state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

A Goldman Sachs spokesman declined to comment.

The New York regulator has imposed a tight deadline for Goldman of June 14.

The fund at issue, which was founded by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 shortly after he came to office, is being investigated for money-laundering in at least six countries.

U.S. law enforcement officials are attempting to identify whether Goldman violated federal law after failing to flag a transaction in Malaysia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The probe concerns $3 billion raised by Goldman through a 1MDB bond offering. The focal point is whether the bank complied with the Bank Secrecy Act, the main U.S. anti-money laundering law.

Other information being sought by the New York regulator includes reports about suspicious financial activity that Goldman may have filed with U.S. and foreign authorities, and schedules for interviews or testimony by current or former Goldman employees by other regulators, the person familiar with the matter said.

(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Richard Chang and Cynthia Osterman)