US bank supervisors told Goldman Sachs to tighten its oversight of risk and report more of its internal debates about deals just after the Wall Street bank completed $6.5bn of controversial bond financing for 1MDB, the Malaysian fund.
Goldman implemented sweeping changes to how the powerful internal committees that oversee how its operations work, under pressure from the New York Federal Reserve. The reforms were agreed in 2013 after the Fed pressed Goldman to be more transparent, but were not publicly disclosed.
The bank is now being investigated by the US Department of Justice over the 1MDB scandal, and has been sued by an Abu Dhabi fund. Tim Leissner, a former Goldman partner, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy relating to money laundering and bribery. Roger Ng, another Goldman banker, has also been charged, although his plea is unknown. Mr Ng could not be reached for comment.