Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz has defended the Perikatan Nasional government's US$3.9 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs over the bank's role in the theft of 1MDB funds, stressing that he had chosen the pragmatic and responsible path in resolving the matter.

A key criticism if the settlement is the fact that Goldman Sachs will only need to pay US$2.5 billion in cash while the remaining is US$1.4 billion guarantee on the recovery of assets acquired using stolen 1MDB funds, which is largely being conducted by the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

In an interview with The Edge, Zafrul (above) said Goldman Sachs' guarantee was not illusory as it would protect Malaysia from valuation risk on...