Goldman Sachs cuts quarterly earnings citing legal provisions

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc on Friday lowered its previously stated quarterly net earnings applicable to common shareholders to $197 million from $2.25 billion.

The bank said in a filing it had set aside $2.96 billion for potential legal and regulatory costs, up from the $945 million announced on July 15 with its second-quarter earnings.

On July 24, the bank agreed to pay the Malaysia government $3.9 billion to settle a criminal probe over its role in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts Marshall; editing by Jason Neely)