Goldman Sachs executive banned from banking for 1MDB scandal

The Federal Reserve permanently banned senior Goldman Sachs Group banker Andrea Vella from the industry over his alleged involvement in the Malaysian investment fund scandal known as 1MDB.

The Fed's order announced Tuesday said Mr. Vella, a former co-chair of Asian investment banking who was put on leave in 2018, failed to inform Goldman of potential illicit activity involving 1MDB bond offerings handled by the bank in 2012 and 2013. Other former Goldman employees have been criminally charged by the U.S. Justice Department as a result of its investigation.

Mr. Vella, who agreed to the Fed's order without admitting or denying wrongdoing, is slated to leave Goldman, according to a person briefed on the matter. The 1MDB conspiracy, in which a global cast of characters is accused of looting billions of dollars from the Malaysian government, has been a major embarrassment for the bank.

The Fed said Mr. Vella "engaged in unsafe and unsound practices" by failing to ensure that all of Goldman's internal committees were aware that the 1MDB deal involved Jho Low, who's been accused of being the mastermind of the fraud. Mr. Low's involvement "heightened potential underwriting risks," the Fed said in its order dated Jan. 31 and Goldman knew he was a "person of concern."

Before Mr. Vella's downfall, he had been Goldman's top dealmaker in Hong Kong, helping structure 1MDB's fundraising and then playing a key role in the firm's initial review of what went wrong. He had been one of two executives overseeing investment banking for all of Asia except Japan.

An Italian, he graduated from the Sapienza in Rome with a master's degree in aeronautical engineering. Mr. Vella also had an expertise in complex derivatives.

Before he joined Goldman, Mr. Vella's team at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. arranged a Greek bond deal in 2007 that left the country's pension funds feeling cheated, and triggered the ouster of its labor secretary. Mr. Vella went to Goldman soon after as a partner.