The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said serious lapses and deficiencies in management controls at Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. had contributed to the misappropriation of $US2.6 billion raised by the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) raised the funds in three bond offerings in 2012 and 2013.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman said the Wall Street bank would issue a statement in due course.

The 1MDB scandal has been a costly and long-running sore for the US investment bank, though there are signs it may be close to drawing a line under the affair.

In July, Goldman agreed to pay $US3.9 billion to settle Malaysia's criminal probe and this week it is expected to agree to pay more than $US2 billion to settle US charges over its role in the scandal.

Malaysian and US authorities estimate $US4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated high-level officials in the fund, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Goldman staff and others.

The three bond offerings, which raised a combined $US6.5 billion, were arranged and underwritten by UK-based Goldman Sachs International, with work conducted by deal team members in multiple jurisdictions, who shared the revenue generated.

The SFC said Goldman Sachs Asia, the bank's Hong Kong-based compliance and control hub for the region, had significant involvement in the three bond offerings.

The bank's Asia hub had earned $US210 million from the offerings, the largest share among the various Goldman entities.

"This enforcement action is the result of a rigorous, independent investigation conducted by the SFC," said Ashley Alder, the SFC's chief executive.

Thursday's fine from the SFC dwarfed the previous record of $US51 million, which it levied on a private banking unit of HSBC in 2017, and on UBS last year.

Australian Associated Press