Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2)

Registration Statement No. 333-219206

  

 

If the closing level of any of the Russell 2000^® Index, the S&P 500^® Index or the S&P MidCap 400^® Index on any observation date is less than 70% of its initial level, you will not receive a coupon on the applicable payment date. The amount that you will be paid on your notes is based on the performances of the indexes. The notes will mature on the stated maturity date (April 3, 2023), unless automatically called on any observation date commencing in June 2019 to and including December 2022. Your notes will be automatically called if the closing level of each index on any such observation date is greater than or equal to its initial level (1,512.864 with respect to the Russell 2000^® Index, 2,798.36 with respect to the S&P 500^® Index and 1,858.22 with respect to the S&P MidCap 400^® Index). If your notes are automatically called, you will receive a payment on the next payment date (the fifth business day after the relevant observation date) equal to the face amount of your notes plus a coupon (as described below).

Observation dates are the 25th day of each March, June, September and December (provided that the observation date in March 2023 will be March 27, 2023), commencing in June 2019 and ending in March 2023. If on any observation date the closing level of each index is greater than or equal to 70% of its initial level, you will receive on the applicable payment date a coupon for each $1,000 face amount of your notes equal to $10.625.

The amount that you will be paid on your notes at maturity, if they have not been automatically called, in addition to the final coupon, if any, is based on the performance of the index with the lowest index return. The index return for each index is the percentage increase or decrease in the closing level of such index on the final observation date (March 27, 2023) from its initial level.

At maturity, for each $1,000 face amount of your notes you will receive an amount in cash equal to:

If the index return for any index is less than -30%, the percentage of the face amount of your notes you will receive will be based on the performance of the index with the lowest index return. In such event, you will receive less than the face amount of your notes and no coupon.

You should read the disclosure herein to better understand the terms and risks of your investment, including the credit risk of GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. See page PS-12.

The estimated value of your notes at the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date is equal to approximately $974 per $1,000 face amount. For a discussion of the estimated value and the price at which Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC would initially buy or sell your notes, if it makes a market in the notes, see the following page.

* See “Supplemental Plan of Distribution” on page PS-30 or additional information regarding the fees comprising the underwriting discount.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. The notes are not bank deposits and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, nor are they obligations of, or guaranteed by, a bank.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

Pricing Supplement No. 5,350 dated March 25, 2019.

 

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The issue price, underwriting discount and net proceeds listed above relate to the notes we sell initially. We may decide to sell additional notes after the date of this pricing supplement, at issue prices and with underwriting discounts and net proceeds that differ from the amounts set forth above. The return (whether positive or negative) on your investment in notes will depend in part on the issue price you pay for such notes.

GS Finance Corp. may use this prospectus in the initial sale of the notes. In addition, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC or any other affiliate of GS Finance Corp. may use this prospectus in a market-making transaction in a note after its initial sale. Unless GS Finance Corp. or its agent informs the purchaser otherwise in the confirmation of sale, this prospectus is being used in a market-making transaction.

 

 

PS-2

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Terms AND CONDITIONS

(Terms From Pricing Supplement No. 5,350 Incorporated Into Master Note No. 2)

CUSIP / ISIN: 40056F3W3 / US40056F3W37

Company (Issuer): GS Finance Corp.

Guarantor: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Underliers (each individually, an underlier): the Russell 2000^® Index (current Bloomberg symbol: “RTY Index”), or any successor underlier, the S&P 500^® Index (current Bloomberg symbol: “SPX Index”), or any successor underlier, and the S&P MidCap 400^® Index (current Bloomberg symbol: “MID Index”), or any successor underlier, as each may be modified, replaced or adjusted from time to time as provided herein

Face amount: $500,000 in the aggregate on the original issue date; the aggregate face amount may be increased if the company, at its sole option, decides to sell an additional amount on a date subsequent to the trade date

Authorized denominations: $1,000 or any integral multiple of $1,000 in excess thereof

Principal amount:  Subject to redemption by the company as provided under “— Company’s redemption right (automatic call feature)” below, on the stated maturity date, in addition to the final coupon, if any, the company will pay, for each $1,000 of the outstanding face amount, an amount, if any, in cash equal to the cash settlement amount.

Cash settlement amount:

 

Company’s redemption right (automatic call feature): if a redemption event occurs, then the outstanding face amount will be automatically redeemed in whole and the company will pay, in addition to the coupon then due, an amount in cash on the following call payment date, for each $1,000 of the outstanding face amount, equal to $1,000

 

Redemption event: a redemption event will occur if, as measured on any call observation date, the closing level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level

Initial underlier level: 1,512.864 with respect to the Russell 2000^® Index, 2,798.36 with respect to the S&P 500^® Index and 1,858.22 with respect to the S&P MidCap 400^® Index

Final underlier level: with respect to an underlier, the closing level of such underlier on the determination date, subject to adjustment as provided in “— Consequences of a market disruption event or non-trading day” and “— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier” below

Underlier return: with respect to an underlier on the determination date, the quotient of (i) its final underlier level minus its initial underlier level divided by (ii) its initial underlier level, expressed as a positive or negative percentage

Lesser performing underlier return: the underlier return of the lesser performing underlier

Lesser performing underlier: the underlier with the lowest underlier return

Buffer level: for each underlier, 70% of its initial underlier level

Buffer amount: 30%

Coupon: subject to the company’s redemption right, on each coupon payment date, for each $1,000 of the outstanding face amount, the company will pay an amount in cash equal to:

PS-3

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Coupon trigger level: for each underlier, 70% of its initial underlier level

Trade date: March 25, 2019

Original issue date: March 28, 2019

Determination date: March 27, 2023, unless the calculation agent determines that, with respect to any underlier, a market disruption event occurs or is continuing on that day or that day is not otherwise a trading day. In the event the originally scheduled determination date is a non-trading day with respect to any underlier, the determination date will be the first day thereafter that is a trading day for all underliers (the “first qualified trading day”) provided that no market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier on that day. If a market disruption event with respect to an underlier occurs or is continuing on the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day, the determination date will be the first following trading day on which the calculation agent determines that each underlier has had at least one trading day (from and including the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day, as applicable) on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing and the closing level of each underlier will be determined on or prior to the postponed determination date as set forth under “— Consequences of a market disruption event or a non-trading day” below. (In such case, the determination date may differ from the date on which the level of an underlier is determined for the purpose of the calculations to be performed on the determination date.) In no event, however, will the determination date be postponed to a date later than the originally scheduled stated maturity date or, if the originally scheduled stated maturity date is not a business day, later than the first business day after the originally scheduled stated maturity date, either due to the occurrence of serial non-trading days or due to the occurrence of one or more market disruption events. On such last possible determination date, if a market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier that has not yet had such a trading day on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing or if such last possible day is not a trading day with respect to such underlier, that day will nevertheless be the determination date.

Stated maturity date: April 3, 2023, unless that day is not a business day, in which case the stated maturity date will be postponed to the next following business day.  The stated maturity date will also be postponed if the determination date is postponed as described under “— Determination date” above. In such a case, the stated maturity date will be postponed by the same number of business day(s) from but excluding the originally scheduled determination date to and including the actual determination date.

Call observation dates: each coupon observation date commencing in June 2019 and ending in December 2022, subject to adjustment as described under “— Coupon observation dates” below

Call payment dates: the fifth business day after each call observation date, subject to adjustment as provided under — Call observation dates” above

Coupon observation dates: the 25th day of each March, June, September and December (provided that the coupon observation date in March 2023 will be March 27, 2023), commencing in June 2019 and ending in March 2023, unless the calculation agent determines that, with respect to any underlier, a market disruption event occurs or is continuing on that day or that day is not otherwise a trading day

In the event the originally scheduled coupon observation date is a non-trading day with respect to any underlier, the coupon observation date will be the first day thereafter that is a trading day for all underliers (the “first qualified coupon trading day”) provided that no market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier on that day. If a market disruption event with respect to an underlier occurs or is continuing on the originally scheduled coupon observation date or the first qualified coupon trading day, the coupon observation date will be the first following trading day on which the calculation agent determines that each underlier has had at least one trading day (from and including the originally scheduled coupon observation date or the first qualified coupon trading day, as applicable) on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing and the closing level of each underlier for that coupon observation date will be determined on or prior to the postponed coupon observation date as set forth under “— Consequences of a market disruption event or a non-trading day” below. (In such case, the coupon observation date may differ from the date on which the level of an underlier is determined for the purpose of the calculations to be performed on the coupon observation date.) In no event, however, will the coupon observation date be postponed to a date later than the originally scheduled coupon payment date or, if the originally scheduled coupon payment date is not a business day, later than the first business day after the originally scheduled coupon payment date, either due to the occurrence of serial non-trading days or due to the occurrence of one or more market disruption events. On such last possible coupon observation date applicable to the relevant coupon payment date, if a market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier that has not

PS-4

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yet had such a trading day on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing or if such last possible day is not a trading day with respect to such underlier, that day will nevertheless be the coupon observation date.

Coupon payment dates: the fifth business day after each coupon observation date to and including the stated maturity date, subject to adjustment as described under “— Coupon observation dates” above

Closing level: on any trading day, (i) with respect to the Russell 2000^® Index, the closing level of such underlier or any successor underlier reported by Bloomberg Financial Services, or any successor reporting service the company may select, on such trading day for that underlier (as of the trade date, whereas the underlier sponsor publishes the official closing level of the Russell 2000^® Index to six decimal places, Bloomberg Financial Services reports the closing level to fewer decimal places) and (ii) with respect to the S&P 500^® Index and the S&P MidCap 400^® Index, the official closing level of such underlier or any successor underlier published by the underlier sponsor on such trading day for such underlier

Trading day: with respect to an underlier, a day on which the respective principal securities markets for all of its underlier stocks are open for trading, the underlier sponsor is open for business and such underlier is calculated and published by the underlier sponsor

Successor underlier: with respect to an underlier, any substitute underlier approved by the calculation agent as a successor as provided under “— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier” below

Underlier sponsor: with respect to an underlier, at any time, the person or entity, including any successor sponsor, that determines and publishes such underlier as then in effect. The notes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by any underlier sponsor or any affiliate thereof and no underlier sponsor or affiliate thereof makes any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the notes.

Underlier stocks: with respect to an underlier, at any time, the stocks that comprise such underlier as then in effect, after giving effect to any additions, deletions or substitutions

Market disruption event: With respect to any given trading day, any of the following will be a market disruption event with respect to an underlier:

and, in the case of any of these events, the calculation agent determines in its sole discretion that such event could materially interfere with the ability of the company or any of its affiliates or a similarly situated person to unwind all or a material portion of a hedge that could be effected with respect to this note.

The following events will not be market disruption events:

For this purpose, an “absence of trading” in the primary securities market on which an underlier stock is traded, or on which option or futures contracts relating to an underlier or an underlier stock are traded, will not include any time when that market is itself closed for trading under ordinary circumstances. In contrast, a suspension or limitation of trading in an underlier stock or in option or futures contracts, if available, relating to an underlier or an underlier stock in the primary market for that stock or those contracts, by reason of:

PS-5

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will constitute a suspension or material limitation of trading in that stock or those contracts in that market.

A market disruption event with respect to one underlier will not, by itself, constitute a market disruption event for the other unaffected underliers.

As is the case throughout this pricing supplement, references to the underlier in this description of market disruption events includes any successor underlier as it may be modified, replaced or adjusted from time to time.

Consequences of a market disruption event or a non-trading day: With respect to any underlier, if a market disruption event occurs or is continuing on a day that would otherwise be a coupon observation date or the determination date, or such day is not a trading day, then such coupon observation date or the determination date will be postponed as described under “— Coupon observation dates” or “— Determination date” above. If any coupon observation date or the determination date is postponed to the last possible date due to the occurrence of serial non-trading days, the level of each underlier will be the calculation agent’s assessment of such level, in its sole discretion, on such last possible postponed coupon observation date or determination date, as applicable. If any coupon observation date or the determination date is postponed due to a market disruption event with respect to any underlier, the closing level of each underlier with respect to such coupon observation date or the final underlier level with respect to the determination date, as applicable, will be calculated based on (i) for any underlier that is not affected by a market disruption event on (A) the applicable originally scheduled coupon observation date or the first qualified coupon trading day thereafter (if applicable) or (B) the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day thereafter (if applicable), the closing level of the underlier on that date, (ii) for any underlier that is affected by a market disruption event on (A) the applicable originally scheduled coupon observation date or the first qualified coupon trading day thereafter (if applicable) or (B) the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day thereafter (if applicable), the closing level of the underlier on the first following trading day on which no market disruption event exists for such underlier and (iii) the calculation agent’s assessment, in its sole discretion, of the level of any underlier on the last possible postponed coupon observation date or determination date, as applicable, with respect to such underlier as to which a market disruption event continues through the last possible postponed coupon observation date or determination date. As a result, this could result in the closing level on any coupon observation date or final underlier level on the determination date of each underlier being determined on different calendar dates. For the avoidance of doubt, once the closing level for an underlier is determined for a coupon observation date or determination date, the occurrence of a later market disruption event or non-trading day will not alter such calculation.

Discontinuance or modification of an underlier: If an underlier sponsor discontinues publication of an underlier and such underlier sponsor or anyone else publishes a substitute underlier that the calculation agent determines is comparable to such underlier and approves as a successor underlier, or if the calculation agent designates a substitute underlier, then the calculation agent will determine the coupon payable, if any, on the relevant coupon payment date, the amount payable on the call payment date or the amount in cash on the stated maturity date, as applicable, by reference to such successor underlier.

If the calculation agent determines on a coupon observation date or the determination date, as applicable, that the publication of an underlier is discontinued and there is no successor underlier, the calculation agent will determine the coupon or the cash settlement amount, as applicable, on the related coupon payment date or the stated maturity date, as applicable, by a computation methodology that the calculation agent determines will as closely as reasonably possible replicate such underlier.

If the calculation agent determines that an underlier, the underlier stocks comprising that underlier or the method of calculating that underlier is changed at any time in any respect — including any split or reverse-split and any addition, deletion or substitution and any reweighting or rebalancing of the underlier or of the underlier stocks and whether the change is made by the underlier sponsor under its existing policies or following a modification of those policies, is due to the publication of a successor underlier, is due to events affecting one or more of the underlier stocks or their issuers or is due to any other reason — and is not otherwise reflected in the level of the underlier by the underlier sponsor pursuant to the then-current underlier methodology of the underlier, then the calculation agent will be permitted (but not required) to make such adjustments in such underlier or the method of its calculation as it believes are appropriate to ensure that the levels of such underlier used to determine the coupon or cash settlement amount, as applicable, on the related coupon payment date or the stated maturity date, as applicable, is equitable.

All determinations and adjustments to be made by the calculation agent with respect to an underlier may be made by the calculation agent in its sole discretion. The calculation agent is not obligated to make any such adjustments.

Regular record dates: the scheduled business day immediately preceding the day on which payment is to be made (as such payment date may be adjusted)

Calculation agent: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (“GS&Co.”)

PS-6

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Tax characterization: The holder, on behalf of itself and any other person having a beneficial interest in this note, hereby agrees with the company (in the absence of a change in law, an administrative determination or a judicial ruling to the contrary) to characterize this note for all U.S. federal income tax purposes as an income-bearing pre-paid derivative contract in respect of the underliers.

Overdue principal rate and overdue coupon rate: the effective Federal Funds rate

 

PS-7

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HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLES

The following examples are provided for purposes of illustration only. They should not be taken as an indication or prediction of future investment results and are intended merely to illustrate (i) the impact that various hypothetical closing levels of the underliers on a coupon observation date could have on the coupon payable, if any, on the related coupon payment date and (ii) the impact that various hypothetical closing levels of the lesser performing underlier on the determination date could have on the cash settlement amount at maturity assuming all other variables remain constant.

The examples below are based on a range of underlier levels that are entirely hypothetical; no one can predict what the closing level of any underlier will be on any day throughout the life of your notes, what the closing level of any underlier will be on any coupon observation date or call observation date, as the case may be, and what the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier will be on the determination date. The underliers have been highly volatile in the past — meaning that the underlier levels have changed substantially in relatively short periods — and their performance cannot be predicted for any future period.

The information in the following examples reflects hypothetical rates of return on the offered notes assuming that they are purchased on the original issue date at the face amount and held to a call payment date or the stated maturity date. If you sell your notes in a secondary market prior to a call payment date or the stated maturity date, as the case may be, your return will depend upon the market value of your notes at the time of sale, which may be affected by a number of factors that are not reflected in the examples below such as interest rates, the volatility of the underliers, the creditworthiness of GS Finance Corp., as issuer, and the creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor. In addition, the estimated value of your notes at the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date (as determined by reference to pricing models used by GS&Co.) is less than the original issue price of your notes. For more information on the estimated value of your notes, see “Additional Risk Factors Specific to Your Notes — The Estimated Value of Your Notes At the Time the Terms of Your Notes Are Set On the Trade Date (as Determined By Reference to Pricing Models Used By GS&Co.) Is Less Than the Original Issue Price Of Your Notes” on page PS-12 of this pricing supplement. The information in the examples also reflects the key terms and assumptions in the box below.

For these reasons, the actual performance of the underliers over the life of your notes, the actual underlier levels on any call observation date or coupon observation date, as well as the coupon payable, if any, on each coupon payment date, may bear little relation to the hypothetical examples shown below or to the historical underlier levels shown elsewhere in this pricing supplement. For information about the underlier levels during recent periods, see “The Underliers — Historical Closing Levels of the Underliers” on page PS-23. Before investing in the notes, you should consult publicly available information to determine the underlier levels between the date of this pricing supplement and the date of your purchase of the notes.

Also, the hypothetical examples shown below do not take into account the effects of applicable taxes. Because of the U.S. tax treatment applicable to your notes, tax liabilities could affect the after-tax rate of return on your notes to a comparatively greater extent than the after-tax return on the underlier stocks.

PS-8

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Hypothetical Coupon Payments

The examples below show hypothetical performances of each underlier as well as the hypothetical coupons, if any, that we would pay on each coupon payment date with respect to each $1,000 face amount of the notes if the closing level of each underlier on the applicable coupon observation date was the percentage of its initial underlier level shown.

Scenario 1

In Scenario 1, the hypothetical closing level of each underlier increases and decreases by varying amounts on each hypothetical coupon observation date. Because the hypothetical closing level of each underlier on the third and sixth hypothetical coupon observation dates is greater than or equal to its coupon trigger level, the total of the hypothetical coupons in Scenario 1 is $21.25. Because the hypothetical closing level of at least one underlier on all other coupon observation dates is less than its coupon trigger level, no further coupons will be paid, including at maturity.

Scenario 2

In Scenario 2, the hypothetical closing level of each underlier increases and decreases by varying amounts on each hypothetical coupon observation date. Because in each case the hypothetical closing level of at least one underlier on the related coupon observation date is less than its coupon trigger level, you will not receive a coupon payment on the applicable hypothetical coupon payment date. Since this occurs on every hypothetical coupon observation date, the overall return you earn on your notes will be less than zero. Therefore, the total of the hypothetical coupons in Scenario 2 is $0.

PS-9

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Scenario 3

In Scenario 3, the hypothetical closing level of each underlier increases to a level that is greater than its initial underlier level on the first hypothetical coupon observation date. Because the hypothetical closing level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level on the first hypothetical coupon observation date (which is also the first hypothetical call observation date), your notes will be automatically called. Therefore, on the corresponding hypothetical call payment date, in addition to the hypothetical coupon of $10.625, you will receive an amount in cash equal to $1,000 for each $1,000 face amount of your notes.

Hypothetical Payment at Maturity

If the notes are not automatically called on any call observation date (i.e., on each call observation date the closing level of any underlier is less than its initial underlier level), the cash settlement amount we would deliver for each $1,000 face amount of your notes on the stated maturity date will depend on the performance of the lesser performing underlier on the determination date, as shown in the table below. The table below assumes that the notes have not been automatically called on a call observation date, does not include the final coupon, if any, and reflects hypothetical cash settlement amounts that you could receive on the stated maturity date. If the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier (as a percentage of the initial underlier level) is less than its coupon trigger level, you will not be paid a final coupon at maturity.

The levels in the left column of the table below represent hypothetical final underlier levels of the lesser performing underlier and are expressed as percentages of the initial underlier level of the lesser performing underlier. The amounts in the right column represent the hypothetical cash settlement amounts, based on the corresponding hypothetical final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier (expressed as a percentage of the initial underlier level of the lesser performing underlier), and are expressed as percentages of the face amount of a note (rounded to the nearest one-thousandth of a percent). Thus, a hypothetical cash settlement amount of 100.000% means that the value of the cash payment that we would deliver for each $1,000 of the outstanding face amount of the offered notes on the stated maturity date would equal 100.000% of the face amount of a note, based on the corresponding hypothetical final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier (expressed as a percentage of the initial underlier level of the lesser performing underlier) and the assumptions noted above.

PS-10

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The Notes Have Not Been Automatically Called

*Does not include the final coupon

If, for example, the notes have not been automatically called on a call observation date and the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier were determined to be 25.000% of its initial underlier level, the cash settlement amount that we would deliver on your notes at maturity would be 55.000% of the face amount of your notes, as shown in the table above. As a result, if you purchased your notes on the original issue date at the face amount and held them to the stated maturity date, you would lose 45.000% of your investment (if you purchased your notes at a premium to face amount you would lose a correspondingly higher percentage of your investment). In addition, if the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier were determined to be 200.000% of its initial underlier level, the cash settlement amount that we would deliver on your notes at maturity would be limited to 100.000% of each $1,000 face amount of your notes, as shown in the table above. As a result, if you held your notes to the stated maturity date, you would not benefit from any increase in the final underlier level over the initial underlier level.

The cash settlement amounts shown above are entirely hypothetical; they are based on market prices for the underlier stocks that may not be achieved on the determination date and on assumptions that may prove to be erroneous. The actual market value of your notes on the stated maturity date or at any other time, including any time you may wish to sell your notes, may bear little relation to the hypothetical cash settlement amounts shown above, and these amounts should not be viewed as an indication of the financial return on an investment in the offered notes. The hypothetical cash settlement amounts on notes held to the stated maturity date in the examples above assume you purchased your notes at their face amount and have not been adjusted to reflect the actual issue price you pay for your notes. The return on your investment (whether positive or negative) in your notes will be affected by the amount you pay for your notes. If you purchase your notes for a price other than the face amount, the return on your investment will differ from, and may be significantly lower than, the hypothetical returns suggested by the above examples. Please read “Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Notes — The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors” on page S-3 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734.

Payments on the notes are economically equivalent to the amounts that would be paid on a combination of other instruments. For example, payments on the notes are economically equivalent to a combination of an interest-bearing bond bought by the holder and one or more options entered into between the holder and us (with one or more implicit option premiums paid over time). The discussion in this paragraph does not modify or affect the terms of the notes or the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the notes, as described elsewhere in this pricing supplement.

PS-11

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ADDITIONAL RISK FACTORS SPECIFIC TO YOUR NOTES

 

The Estimated Value of Your Notes At the Time the Terms of Your Notes Are Set On the Trade Date (as Determined By Reference to Pricing Models Used By GS&Co.) Is Less Than the Original Issue Price Of Your Notes

The original issue price for your notes exceeds the estimated value of your notes as of the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date, as determined by reference to GS&Co.’s pricing models and taking into account our credit spreads. Such estimated value on the trade date is set forth above under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”; after the trade date, the estimated value as determined by reference to these models will be affected by changes in market conditions, the creditworthiness of GS Finance Corp., as issuer, the creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor, and other relevant factors. The price at which GS&Co. would initially buy or sell your notes (if GS&Co. makes a market, which it is not obligated to do), and the value that GS&Co. will initially use for account statements and otherwise, also exceeds the estimated value of your notes as determined by reference to these models. As agreed by GS&Co. and the distribution participants, this excess (i.e., the additional amount described under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”) will decline to zero on a straight line basis over the period from the date hereof through the applicable date set forth above under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”. Thereafter, if GS&Co. buys or sells your notes it will do so at prices that reflect the estimated value determined by reference to such pricing models at that time. The price at which GS&Co. will buy or sell your notes at any time also will reflect its then current bid and ask spread for similar sized trades of structured notes.

In estimating the value of your notes as of the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date, as disclosed above under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”, GS&Co.’s pricing models consider certain variables, including principally our credit spreads, interest rates (forecasted, current and historical rates), volatility, price-sensitivity analysis and the time to maturity of the notes. These pricing models are proprietary and rely in part on certain assumptions about future events, which may prove to be incorrect. As a result, the actual value you would receive if you sold your notes in the secondary market, if any, to others may differ, perhaps materially, from the estimated value of your notes determined by reference to our models due to, among other things, any differences in pricing models or assumptions used by others. See “Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Notes — The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors” on page S-3 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734.

The difference between the estimated value of your notes as of the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date and the original issue price is a result of certain factors, including principally the underwriting discount and commissions, the expenses incurred in creating, documenting and marketing the notes, and an estimate of the difference between the amounts we pay to GS&Co. and the amounts GS&Co. pays to us in connection with your notes. We pay to GS&Co. amounts based on what we would pay to holders of a non-structured note with a similar maturity. In return for such payment, GS&Co. pays to us the amounts we owe under your notes.

In addition to the factors discussed above, the value and quoted price of your notes at any time will reflect many factors and cannot be predicted. If GS&Co. makes a market in the notes, the price quoted by GS&Co. would reflect any changes in market conditions and other relevant factors, including any deterioration in our creditworthiness or perceived creditworthiness or the creditworthiness or perceived creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. These changes may adversely affect the value of your notes, including the price you may receive for your notes in any market making transaction. To the extent that GS&Co. makes a market in the notes, the quoted price will reflect the estimated value determined by reference to GS&Co.’s pricing models at that time, plus or minus its then current bid and ask spread for similar sized trades of structured notes (and subject to the declining excess amount described above).

Furthermore, if you sell your notes, you will likely be charged a commission for secondary market transactions, or the price will likely reflect a dealer discount. This commission or discount will further reduce the proceeds you would receive for your notes in a secondary market sale.

PS-12

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There is no assurance that GS&Co. or any other party will be willing to purchase your notes at any price and, in this regard, GS&Co. is not obligated to make a market in the notes. See “Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Notes — Your Notes May Not Have an Active Trading Market” on page S-7 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734.

The Notes Are Subject to the Credit Risk of the Issuer and the Guarantor

Although the coupons (if any) and return on the notes will be based on the performance of each underlier, the payment of any amount due on the notes is subject to the credit risk of GS Finance Corp., as issuer of the notes, and the credit risk of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor of the notes. The notes are our unsecured obligations. Investors are dependent on our ability to pay all amounts due on the notes, and therefore investors are subject to our credit risk and to changes in the market’s view of our creditworthiness. Similarly, investors are dependent on the ability of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor of the notes, to pay all amounts due on the notes, and therefore are also subject to its credit risk and to changes in the market’s view of its creditworthiness. See “Description of the Notes We May Offer — Information About Our Medium-Term Notes, Series E Program — How the Notes Rank Against Other Debt” on page S-4 of the accompanying prospectus supplement and “Description of Debt Securities We May Offer — Guarantee by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.” on page 42 of the accompanying prospectus.

You May Lose a Substantial Portion Your Investment in the Notes

You can lose a substantial portion of your investment in the notes. Assuming your notes are not automatically called, the cash settlement amount on your notes, if any, on the stated maturity date will be based on the performance of the lesser performing of the underliers as measured from their initial underlier levels to their closing levels on the determination date. If the final underlier level of any underlier is less than its buffer level, you will have a loss for each $1,000 of the face amount of your notes equal to the product of (i) the sum of the lesser performing underlier return plus the buffer amount times (ii) $1,000. Thus, you may lose a substantial portion of your investment in the notes, which would include any premium to face amount you paid when you purchased the notes.

Also, the market price of your notes prior to a call payment date or the stated maturity date, as the case may be, may be significantly lower than the purchase price you pay for your notes. Consequently, if you sell your notes before the stated maturity date, you may receive far less than the amount of your investment in the notes.

You May Not Receive a Coupon on Any Coupon Payment Date

If the closing level of any underlier on the related coupon observation date is less than its coupon trigger level, you will not receive a coupon payment on the applicable coupon payment date. If this occurs on every coupon observation date, the overall return you earn on your notes will be less than zero and such return will be less than you would have earned by investing in a note that bears interest at the prevailing market rate.

You will only receive a coupon on a coupon payment date if the closing level of each underlier on the related coupon observation date is greater than or equal to its coupon trigger level. You should be aware that, with respect to any prior coupon observation dates that did not result in the payment of a coupon, you will not be compensated for any opportunity cost implied by inflation and other factors relating to the time value of money. Further, there is no guarantee that you will receive any coupon payment with respect to the notes at any time.

Your Notes Are Subject to Automatic Redemption

We will automatically call and redeem all, but not part, of your notes on a call payment date if, as measured on any call observation date, the closing level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level. Therefore, the term for your notes may be reduced. You will not receive any additional coupon payments after the notes are automatically called and you may not be able to reinvest the proceeds from an investment in the notes at a comparable return for a similar level of risk in the event the notes are automatically called prior to maturity.

The Coupon Does Not Reflect the Actual Performance of the Underliers from the Trade Date to Any Coupon Observation Date or from Coupon Observation Date to Coupon Observation Date

The coupon for each quarterly coupon payment date is different from, and may be less than, a coupon determined based on the percentage difference of the closing levels of the underliers between the trade date and any coupon observation date or between two coupon observation dates. Accordingly, the coupons, if any, on the notes may be less than the return you could earn on another instrument linked to the underliers that pays coupons based on the performance of the underliers from the trade date to any coupon observation date or from coupon observation date to coupon observation date.

The Cash Settlement Amount Will Be Based Solely on the Lesser Performing Underlier

If the notes are not automatically called, the cash settlement amount will be based on the lesser performing underlier without regard to the performance of the other underliers. As a result, you could lose a substantial portion

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or some of your initial investment if the lesser performing underlier return is negative, even if there is an increase in the levels of the other underliers. This could be the case even if the other underliers increased by an amount greater than the decrease in the lesser performing underlier.

If You Purchase Your Notes at a Premium to Face Amount, the Return on Your Investment Will Be Lower Than the Return on Notes Purchased at Face Amount and the Impact of Certain Key Terms of the Notes Will Be Negatively Affected

The cash settlement amount you will be paid for your notes on the stated maturity date, if any, or the amount you will be paid on a call payment date will not be adjusted based on the issue price you pay for the notes. If you purchase notes at a price that differs from the face amount of the notes, then the return on your investment in such notes held to a call payment date or the stated maturity date will differ from, and may be substantially less than, the return on notes purchased at face amount. If you purchase your notes at a premium to face amount and hold them to a call payment date or the stated maturity date, the return on your investment in the notes will be lower than it would have been had you purchased the notes at face amount or a discount to face amount.

You Have No Shareholder Rights or Rights to Receive Any Underlier Stock

Investing in your notes will not make you a holder of any of the underlier stocks. Neither you nor any other holder or owner of your notes will have any rights with respect to the underlier stocks, including any voting rights, any right to receive dividends or other distributions, any rights to make a claim against the underlier stocks or any other rights of a holder of the underlier stocks. Your notes will be paid in cash, as will any coupon payments, and you will have no right to receive delivery of any underlier stocks.

We May Sell an Additional Aggregate Face Amount of the Notes at a Different Issue Price

At our sole option, we may decide to sell an additional aggregate face amount of the notes subsequent to the date of this pricing supplement. The issue price of the notes in the subsequent sale may differ substantially (higher or lower) from the issue price you paid as provided on the cover of this pricing supplement.

The Tax Consequences of an Investment in Your Notes Are Uncertain

The tax consequences of an investment in your notes are uncertain, both as to the timing and character of any inclusion in income in respect of your notes.

The Internal Revenue Service announced on December 7, 2007 that it is considering issuing guidance regarding the tax treatment of an instrument such as your notes, and any such guidance could adversely affect the value and the tax treatment of your notes. Among other things, the Internal Revenue Service may decide to require the holders to accrue ordinary income on a current basis and recognize ordinary income on payment at maturity, and could subject non-U.S. investors to withholding tax. Furthermore, in 2007, legislation was introduced in Congress that, if enacted, would have required holders that acquired instruments such as your notes after the bill was enacted to accrue interest income over the term of such instruments. It is not possible to predict whether a similar or identical bill will be enacted in the future, or whether any such bill would affect the tax treatment of your notes. We describe these developments in more detail under “Supplemental Discussion of Federal Income Tax Consequences – United States Holders – Possible Change in Law” below. You should consult your tax advisor about this matter. Except to the extent otherwise provided by law, GS Finance Corp. intends to continue treating the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes in accordance with the treatment described under “Supplemental Discussion of Federal Income Tax Consequences” on page PS-26 below unless and until such time as Congress, the Treasury Department or the Internal Revenue Service determine that some other treatment is more appropriate. Please also consult your tax advisor concerning the U.S. federal income tax and any other applicable tax consequences to you of owning your notes in your particular circumstances.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding May Apply to Payments on Your Notes, Including as a Result of the Failure of the Bank or Broker Through Which You Hold the Notes to Provide Information to Tax Authorities

Please see the discussion under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding” in the accompanying prospectus for a description of the applicability of FATCA to payments made on your notes. The discussion in that section is hereby modified to reflect regulations proposed by the Treasury Department indicating its intent to eliminate the requirements under FATCA of withholding on gross proceeds from the sale, exchange, maturity or other disposition of relevant financial instruments. The Treasury Department has indicated that taxpayers may rely on these proposed regulations pending their finalization.

 

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THE UNDERLIERS

The Russell 2000^® Index

The Russell 2000^® Index measures the composite price performance of stocks of 2,000 companies incorporated in the U.S., its territories and certain “benefit-driven incorporation countries.”

As of March 12, 2019, the 2,000 companies included in the Russell 2000^® Index were divided into nine Russell Global Sectors. The Russell Global Sectors include (with the approximate percentage currently included in such sectors indicated in parentheses): Consumer Discretionary (15.16%), Consumer Staples (2.35%), Financial Services (25.30%), Health Care (15.38%), Materials & Processing (6.25%), Other Energy (3.54%), Producer Durables (13.40%), Technology (14.00%) and Utilities (4.62%). (Sector designations are determined by the underlier sponsor using criteria it has selected or developed. Index sponsors may use very different standards for determining sector designations. In addition, many companies operate in a number of sectors, but are listed in only one sector and the basis on which that sector is selected may also differ. As a result, sector comparisons between indices with different index sponsors may reflect differences in methodology as well as actual differences in the sector composition of the indices.)

In addition to the exclusions discussed under “Exclusions from the Russell 2000^® Index” on page S-62 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734, a company with 5% or less of its voting rights in the hands of unrestricted shareholders is no longer eligible for inclusion in the Russell 2000^® Index. Existing constituents of the Russell 2000^® Index that do not currently have more than 5% of the company’s voting rights in the hands of unrestricted shareholders have until the September 2022 review to meet this requirement.

The above information supplements the description of the underlier found in the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734. This information was derived from information prepared by the underlier sponsor, however, the percentages we have listed above are approximate and may not match the information available on the underlier sponsor's website due to subsequent corporate actions or other activity relating to a particular stock. For more details about the underlier, the underlier sponsor and license agreement between the underlier sponsor and the issuer, see “The Underliers — Russell 2000^® Index” on page S-61 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734.

The Russell 2000^® Index is a trademark of Russell Investment Group (“Russell”) and has been licensed for use by GS Finance Corp. The securities are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Russell, and Russell makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the securities.

The S&P 500^® Index

The S&P 500^® Index includes a representative sample of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The S&P 500^® Index is calculated, maintained and published by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“S&P”).

As of July 31, 2017, companies with multiple share class lines are no longer eligible for inclusion in the S&P 500^® Index. Constituents of the S&P 500^® Index prior to July 31, 2017 with multiple share class lines will be grandfathered in and continue to be included in the S&P 500^® Index. If an S&P 500^® Index constituent reorganizes into a multiple share class line structure, that company will be reviewed for continued inclusion in the S&P 500^® Index at the discretion of the S&P Index Committee. Also as of July 31, 2017, the criteria employed by S&P for purposes of making additions to the S&P 500^® Index were changed as follows:

Effective February 20, 2019, company additions to the underlier should have an unadjusted company market capitalization of $8.2 billion or more (an increase from the previous requirement of an unadjusted company market capitalization of $6.1 billion or more).

As of March 19, 2019, the 500 companies included in the S&P 500^® Index were divided into eleven Global Industry Classification Sectors. The Global Industry Classification Sectors include (with the approximate percentage currently included in such sectors indicated in parentheses): Communication Services (9.95%), Consumer Discretionary (10.00%), Consumer Staples (7.17%), Energy (5.43%), Financials (13.15%), Health Care (14.73%), Industrials (9.39%), Information Technology (21.02%), Materials (2.64%), Real Estate (3.01%) and Utilities (3.28%). (Sector designations are determined by the underlier sponsor using criteria it has selected or developed. Index

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sponsors may use very different standards for determining sector designations. In addition, many companies operate in a number of sectors, but are listed in only one sector and the basis on which that sector is selected may also differ. As a result, sector comparisons between indices with different index sponsors may reflect differences in methodology as well as actual differences in the sector composition of the indices.) As of the close of business on September 21, 2018, S&P and MSCI, Inc. updated the Global Industry Classification Sector structure. Among other things, the update broadened the Telecommunications Services sector and renamed it the Communication Services sector. The renamed sector includes the previously existing Telecommunication Services Industry group, as well as the Media Industry group, which was moved from the Consumer Discretionary sector and renamed the Media & Entertainment Industry group. The Media & Entertainment Industry group contains three industries: Media, Entertainment and Interactive Media & Services. The Media industry continues to consist of the Advertising, Broadcasting, Cable & Satellite and Publishing sub-industries. The Entertainment industry contains the Movies & Entertainment sub-industry (which includes online entertainment streaming companies in addition to companies previously classified in such industry prior to September 21, 2018) and the Interactive Home Entertainment sub-industry (which includes companies previously classified in the Home Entertainment Software sub-industry prior to September 21, 2018 (when the Home Entertainment Software sub-industry was a sub-industry in the Information Technology sector)), as well as producers of interactive gaming products, including mobile gaming applications). The Interactive Media & Services industry and sub-industry includes companies engaged in content and information creation or distribution through proprietary platforms, where revenues are derived primarily through pay-per-click advertisements, and includes search engines, social media and networking platforms, online classifieds and online review companies. The Global Industry Classification Sector structure changes are effective for the S&P 500^® Index as of the open of business on September 24, 2018 to coincide with the September 2018 quarterly rebalancing.

The above information supplements the description of the S&P 500^® Index found in the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734. This information was derived from information prepared by the underlier sponsor, however, the percentages we have listed above are approximate and may not match the information available on the underlier sponsor’s website due to subsequent corporate actions or other activity relating to a particular stock. For more details about the S&P 500^® Index, the underlier sponsor and license agreement between the underlier sponsor and the issuer, see “The Underliers — S&P 500^® Index” on page S-40 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734.

The S&P 500^® Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, and has been licensed for use by GS Finance Corp. (“Goldman”). Standard & Poor’s^® and S&P^® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones^® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and these trademarks have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and sublicensed for certain purposes by Goldman. Goldman’s notes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC or any of their respective affiliates and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC or any of their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such notes.

The S&P MidCap 400^® Index

The S&P MidCap 400^® Index includes a sample of 400 mid-sized companies in various industries of the U.S. economy.  S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“S&P”) chooses companies for inclusion in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index with an aim of achieving a distribution by broad industry groupings that approximates the distribution of these groupings in the population of mid-size companies in the U.S. equity market. Although the S&P MidCap 400^® Index contains 400 constituent companies, at any one time it may contain greater than 400 constituent trading lines since some companies included in the index prior to July 31, 2017 may be represented by multiple share class lines in the index. The S&P MidCap 400^® Index is calculated, maintained and published by S&P and is part of the S&P Dow Jones Indices family of indices. Additional information is available on the following websites: spindices.com/indices/equity/sp-400 and spdji.com/. We are not incorporating by reference the websites or any material they include in this pricing supplement.

The S&P MidCap 400^® Index is intended to reflect the risk and return characteristics of the broader universe of mid-sized firms in the U.S. equity markets. Constituent changes are made on an as-needed basis and there is no schedule for constituent reviews. Constituent changes are generally announced one to five business days prior to the change. Relevant criteria for additions to the S&P MidCap 400^® Index that are employed by S&P include: the company proposed for addition has an unadjusted company market capitalization of between $2.4 billion and $8.2 billion (but the constituents are not the 400 largest companies in the NYSE in that range and not all 400 companies are listed on such exchange; for spin-offs, eligibility is determined using when-issued prices, if available); using composite pricing and volume, the ratio of annual dollar value traded in the proposed constituent to float-adjusted market capitalization of that company should be 1.00 or greater and the stock should trade a minimum of 250,000 shares in each of the six months leading up to the evaluation date; the company must be a U.S. company (characterized as a Form 10-K filer with its U.S. portion of fixed assets and revenues constituting a plurality of the

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total and with a primary listing of the common stock on the NYSE, NYSE Arca, NYSE American (formerly NYSE MKT), NASDAQ Global Select Market, NASDAQ Select Market, NASDAQ Capital Market, Bats BZX, Bats BYX, Bats EDGA, Bats EDGX or IEX (each, an “eligible exchange”)), the proposed constituent has a public float of 50% or more of its stock, the inclusion of the company will contribute to sector balance in the index relative to the sector balance in the market in the relevant market capitalization range; financial viability (the sum of the most recent four consecutive quarters’ Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) earnings (net income excluding discontinued operations) should be positive as should the most recent quarter; and, for IPOs, the company must be traded on an eligible exchange for at least twelve months. In addition, constituents of the S&P 500^® Index and the S&P SmallCap 600^® Index can be migrated to the index without meeting the financial viability, public float and/or liquidity eligibility criteria if the S&P Index Committee decides that such a move will enhance the representativeness of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index as a market benchmark. Certain types of organizational structures and securities are always excluded, including business development companies (“BDCs”), limited partnerships, master limited partnerships, limited liability companies (“LLCs”) OTC bulletin board issues, closed-end funds, ETFs, ETNs, royalty trusts, tracking stocks, preferred stock and convertible preferred stock, unit trusts, equity warrants, convertible bonds, investment trusts, rights and American depositary receipts (“ADRs”). Stocks are deleted from the S&P MidCap 400^® Index when they are involved in mergers, acquisitions or significant restructurings such that they no longer meet the inclusion criteria, and when they substantially violate one or more of the addition criteria. Stocks that are delisted or moved to the pink sheets or bulletin board are removed and those that experience a trading halt may be retained or removed in S&P’s discretion. S&P evaluates additions and deletions with a view to maintaining S&P MidCap 400^® Index continuity.

For constituents included in the index prior to July 31, 2017, all publicly listed multiple share class lines are included separately in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index, subject to, in the case of any such share class line, that share class line satisfying the liquidity and float criteria discussed above and subject to certain exceptions.  It is possible that one listed share class line of a company may be included in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index while a second listed share class line of the same company is excluded.  For companies that issue a second publicly traded share class to index share class holders, the newly issued share class line is considered for inclusion if the event is mandatory and the market capitalization of the distributed class is not considered to be de minimis.

As of July 31, 2017, companies with multiple share class lines are no longer eligible for inclusion in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index. Constituents of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index prior to July 31, 2017 with multiple share class lines will be grandfathered in and continue to be included in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index. If an S&P MidCap 400^® Index constituent reorganizes into a multiple share class line structure, that company will be reviewed for continued inclusion in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index at the discretion of the S&P Index Committee.

As of March 5, 2019, the top ten component stocks of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index, by weight, were: IDEX Corporation (0.66%), Zebra Technologies Corporation Class A (0.64%), Ultimate Software Group Inc. (0.62%), Domino's Pizza Inc. (0.62%), STERIS Plc (0.61%), Trimble Inc. (0.60%), PTC Inc. (0.58%), Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (0.57%), Leidos Holdings Inc. (0.57%) and UGI Corporation (0.56%).

As of March 5, 2019, the 400 companies included in the S&P MidCap 400® Index were divided into eleven Global Industry Classification Sectors. The Global Industry Classification Sectors include (with the approximate percentage currently included in such sectors indicated in parentheses): Communication Services (2.56%), Consumer Discretionary (12.09%), Consumer Staples (2.79%), Energy (3.81%), Financials (16.82%), Health Care (9.63%), Industrials (14.97%), Information Technology (16.26%), Materials (6.77%), Real Estate (9.80%) and Utilities (4.52%). (Sector designations are determined by the underlier sponsor using criteria it has selected or developed. Index sponsors may use very different standards for determining sector designations. In addition, many companies operate in a number of sectors, but are listed in only one sector and the basis on which that sector is selected may also differ. As a result, sector comparisons between indices with different index sponsors may reflect differences in methodology as well as actual differences in the sector composition of the indices.) As of the close of business on September 21, 2018, S&P and MSCI, Inc. updated the Global Industry Classification Sector structure. Among other things, the update broadened the Telecommunications Services sector and renamed it the Communication Services sector. The renamed sector includes the previously existing Telecommunication Services Industry group, as well as the Media Industry group, which was moved from the Consumer Discretionary sector and renamed the Media & Entertainment Industry group. The Media & Entertainment Industry group contains three industries: Media, Entertainment and Interactive Media & Services. The Media industry continues to consist of the Advertising, Broadcasting, Cable & Satellite and Publishing sub-industries. The Entertainment industry contains the Movies & Entertainment sub-industry (which includes online entertainment streaming companies in addition to companies previously classified in such industry prior to September 21, 2018) and the Interactive Home Entertainment sub-industry (which includes companies previously classified in the Home Entertainment Software sub-industry prior to September 21, 2018 (when the Home Entertainment Software sub-industry was a sub-industry in the Information Technology sector)), as well as producers of interactive gaming products, including mobile

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gaming applications). The Interactive Media & Services industry and sub-industry includes companies engaged in content and information creation or distribution through proprietary platforms, where revenues are derived primarily through pay-per-click advertisements, and includes search engines, social media and networking platforms, online classifieds and online review companies. The Global Industry Classification Sector structure changes are effective for the S&P MidCap 400^® Index as of the open of business on September 24, 2018 to coincide with the September 2018 quarterly rebalancing.

Calculation of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index

The S&P MidCap 400^® Index is calculated using a base-weighted aggregative methodology. The value of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index on any day for which an underlier value is published is determined by a fraction, the numerator of which is the aggregate of the market price of each stock in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index times the number of shares of such stock included in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index, and the denominator of which is the divisor, which is described more fully below. The “market value” of any underlier stock is the product of the market price per share of that stock times the number of the then-outstanding shares of such underlier stock that are then included in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index.

The S&P MidCap 400^® Index is also sometimes called a “base-weighted aggregative index” because of its use of a divisor.  The “divisor” is a value calculated by S&P that is intended to maintain conformity in underlier values over time and is adjusted for all changes in the underlier stocks’ share capital after the “base date” as described below.  The level of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index reflects the total market value of all underlier stocks relative to the underlier’s base date of June 28, 1991.

In addition, the S&P MidCap 400^® Index is float-adjusted, meaning that the share counts used in calculating the S&P MidCap 400^® Index reflect only those shares available to investors rather than all of a company’s outstanding shares. S&P seeks to exclude shares held by certain shareholders concerned with the control of a company, a group that generally includes the following: officers and directors and related individuals whose holdings are publicly disclosed, private equity, venture capital, special equity firms, publicly traded companies that hold shares for control in another company, strategic partners, holders of restricted shares, employee stock ownership plans, employee and family trusts, foundations associated with the company, holders of unlisted share classes of stock, government entities at all levels (except government retirement or pension funds) and any individual person listed as a 5% or greater stakeholder in a company as reported in regulatory filings (collectively, “control holders”). To this end, S&P excludes all share-holdings (other than depositary banks, pension funds, mutual funds, exchange traded fund providers, 401(k) plans of the company, government retirement and pension funds, investment funds of insurance companies, asset managers and investment funds, independent foundations, savings plans and investment plans) with a position greater than 5% of the outstanding shares of a company from the float-adjusted share count to be used in S&P MidCap 400^® Index calculations.

The exclusion is accomplished by calculating an Investable Weight Factor (“IWF”) for each stock that is part of the numerator of the float-adjusted underlier fraction described above:

IWF = (available float shares)/(total shares outstanding)

where available float shares is defined as total shares outstanding less shares held by control holders. In most cases, an IWF is reported to the nearest one percentage point. For companies with multiple share class lines, a separate IWF is calculated for each share class line.

Maintenance of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index

In order to keep the S&P MidCap 400^® Index comparable over time S&P engages in an underlier maintenance process.  The S&P MidCap 400^® Index maintenance process involves changing the constituents as discussed above, and also involves maintaining quality assurance processes and procedures, adjusting the number of shares used to calculate the S&P MidCap 400^® Index, monitoring and completing the adjustments for company additions and deletions, adjusting for stock splits and stock dividends and adjusting for other corporate actions. In addition to its daily governance of indices and maintenance of the underlier methodology, at least once within any 12 month period, the S&P Index Committee reviews the underlier methodology to ensure the S&P MidCap 400^® Index continues to achieve the stated objective, and that the data and methodology remain effective. The S&P Index Committee may at times consult with investors, market participants, security issuers included or potentially included in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index, or investment and financial experts.

Divisor Adjustments

The two types of adjustments primarily used by S&P are divisor adjustments and adjustments to the number of shares (including float adjustments) used to calculate the S&P MidCap 400^® Index.  Set forth below is a table of certain corporate events and their resulting effect on the divisor and the share count.  If a corporate event requires an adjustment to the divisor, that event has the effect of altering the market value of the affected underlier stock and

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consequently of altering the aggregate market value of the underlier stocks following the event.  In order that the level of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index not be affected by the altered market value (which could be an increase or decrease) of the affected underlier stock, S&P generally derives a new divisor by dividing the post-event market value of the underlier stocks by the pre-event underlier value, which has the effect of reducing the S&P MidCap 400^® Index’s post-event value to the pre-event level.

Changes to the Number of Shares of a Constituent

The underlier maintenance process also involves tracking the changes in the number of shares included for each of the underlier companies. The timing of adjustments to the number of shares depends on the type of event causing the change, and whether the change represents 5% or more of  the total share count (for companies with multiple share class lines, the 5% threshold is based on each individual share class line rather than total company shares). Changes as a result of mergers or acquisitions are implemented when the transaction occurs. At S&P’s discretion, however, de minimis merger and acquisition changes may be accumulated and implemented with the updates made at the quarterly share updates as described below. Changes in a constituent’s total shares of 5% or more due to public offerings (which must be underwritten, have a publicly available prospectus or prospectus summary filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include a public confirmation that the offering has been completed) are implemented as soon as reasonably possible. Other changes of 5% or more are made weekly and are announced on Fridays for implementation after the close of trading on the following Friday. For changes of less than 5%, on the third Friday of the last month in each calendar quarter, S&P updates the share totals of companies in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index as required by any changes in the number of shares outstanding. S&P implements a share / IWF freeze beginning after the market close on the Tuesday preceding the second Friday of each quarterly rebalancing month and ending after the market close on the third Friday of the quarterly rebalancing month. During this frozen period, shares and IWFs are not changed except for certain corporate action events (merger activity, stock splits and rights offerings).

Adjustments for Corporate Actions

There is a large range of corporate actions that may affect companies included in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index.  Certain corporate actions require S&P to recalculate the share count or the float adjustment or to make an adjustment to the divisor to prevent the value of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index from changing as a result of the corporate action.  This helps ensure that the movement of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index does not reflect the corporate actions of individual companies in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index.

Spin-Offs

As a general policy, a spin-off security is added to the S&P MidCap 400^® Index at a zero price at the market close of the day before the ex-date (with no divisor adjustment). The spin-off security will remain in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index if it meets all eligibility criteria. If the spin-off security is determined ineligible to remain in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index, it will generally be removed after at least one day of regular way trading (with a divisor adjustment). If there is a gap between the ex-date and distribution date (or payable date), or if the spin-off security does not trade regular way on the ex-date, the spin-off security is kept in the S&P MidCap 400^® Index until the spin-off security begins trading regular way.

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Several additional types of corporate actions, and their related adjustments, are listed in the table below.

Recalculation Policy

S&P reserves the right to recalculate and republish the S&P MidCap 400^® Index at its discretion in the event one of the following issues has occurred: (1) incorrect or revised closing price of one or more constituent securities; (2) missed corporate event; (3) incorrect application of corporate action or index methodology; (4) late announcement of a corporate event; or (5) incorrect calculation or data entry error. The decision to recalculate the S&P MidCap 400^® Index is made at the discretion of the index manager and/or index committee, as further discussed below. The potential market impact or disruption resulting from the potential recalculation is considered when making any such decision. In the event of an incorrect closing price, a missed corporate event or a misapplied corporate action, a late announcement of a corporate event, or an incorrect calculation or data entry error that is discovered within two trading days of its occurrence, the index manager may, at his or her discretion, recalculate the S&P MidCap 400^® Index without involving the index committee. In the event any such event is discovered beyond the two trading day period, the index committee shall decide whether the S&P MidCap 400^® Index should be recalculated. In the event of an incorrect application of the methodology that results in the incorrect composition and/or weighting of index constituents, the index committee shall determine whether or not to recalculate the S&P MidCap 400^® Index following specified guidelines. In the event that the S&P MidCap 400^® Index is recalculated, it shall be done within a reasonable timeframe following the detection and review of the issue.

Calculations and Pricing Disruptions

Closing levels for the S&P MidCap 400^® Index are calculated by S&P based on the closing price of the individual constituents of the underlier as set by their primary exchange. Closing prices are received by S&P from one of its third party vendors and verified by comparing them with prices from an alternative vendor. The vendors receive the closing price from the primary exchanges. Real-time intraday prices are calculated similarly without a second verification. Prices used for the calculation of real time index values are based on the “Consolidated Tape”. The Consolidated Tape is an aggregation of trades for each constituent over all regional exchanges and trading venues and includes the primary exchange. If there is a failure or interruption on one or more exchanges, real-time calculations will continue as long as the “Consolidated Tape” is operational.

If an interruption is not resolved prior to the market close, official closing prices will be determined by following the hierarchy set out in NYSE Rule 123C. A notice is published on the S&P website at spdji.com indicating any changes to the prices used in S&P MidCap 400^® Index calculations. In extreme circumstances, S&P may decide to delay underlier adjustments or not publish the S&P MidCap 400^® Index. Real-time indices are not restated.

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Unexpected Exchange Closures

An unexpected market/exchange closure occurs when a market/exchange fully or partially fails to open or trading is temporarily halted. This can apply to a single exchange or to a market as a whole, when all of the primary exchanges are closed and/or not trading. Unexpected market/exchange closures are usually due to unforeseen circumstances, such as natural disasters, inclement weather, outages, or other events.

To a large degree, S&P is dependent on the exchanges to provide guidance in the event of an unexpected exchange closure. S&P’s decision making is dependent on exchange guidance regarding pricing and mandatory corporate actions.

NYSE Rule 123C provides closing contingency procedures for determining an official closing price for listed securities if the exchange is unable to conduct a closing transaction in one or more securities due to a system or technical issue.

3:00 PM ET is the deadline for an exchange to determine its plan of action regarding an outage scenario. As such, S&P also uses 3:00 PM ET as the cutoff.

If all major exchanges fail to open or unexpectedly halt trading intraday due to unforeseen circumstances, S&P will take the following actions:

Market Disruption Prior to Open of Trading:

Market Disruption Intraday:

License Agreement between S&P and GS Finance Corp.

The S&P MidCap 400^® Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, and has been licensed for use by GS Finance Corp. (“Goldman”). Standard & Poor’s^® and S&P^® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones^® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and these trademarks have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and sublicensed for certain purposes by Goldman. Goldman’s notes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC or any of their respective affiliates (collectively, “S&P Dow Jones Indices”). S&P Dow Jones Indices makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the notes or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the notes particularly or the ability of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index to track general market performance. S&P Dow Jones Indices’ only relationship to Goldman with respect to the S&P MidCap 400^® Index is the licensing of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index and certain trademarks, service marks and/or trade names of S&P Dow Jones Indices and/or its licensors. The S&P MidCap 400^® Index is determined, composed and calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices without regard to Goldman or the notes. S&P Dow Jones Indices have no obligation to take the needs of Goldman or the owners of the notes into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the S&P MidCap 400^® Index. S&P Dow Jones Indices are not responsible for and have not participated in the determination of the prices, and amount of the notes or the timing of the issuance or sale of the notes or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the notes are to be converted into cash. S&P Dow Jones Indices have no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the notes. There is no assurance that investment products based on the S&P MidCap 400^® Index will accurately track underlier performance or provide positive investment returns. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC is not an investment advisor. Inclusion of a security within an index is not a recommendation by S&P Dow Jones Indices to buy, sell, or hold such security, nor is it considered to be investment advice.

S&P DOW JONES INDICES DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ADEQUACY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS AND/OR THE COMPLETENESS OF THE S&P MidCap 400^® INDEX OR ANY DATA RELATED THERETO OR ANY COMMUNICATION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ORAL OR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION (INCLUDING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS) WITH RESPECT THERETO. S&P DOW JONES INDICES SHALL NOT BE

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SUBJECT TO ANY DAMAGES OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR DELAYS THEREIN. S&P DOW JONES INDICES MAKE NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE OR AS TO RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY GOLDMAN, OWNERS OF THE NOTES, OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FROM THE USE OF THE S&P MidCap 400^® INDEX OR WITH RESPECT TO ANY DATA RELATED THERETO. WITHOUT LIMITING ANY OF THE FOREGOING, IN NO EVENT WHATSOEVER SHALL S&P DOW JONES INDICES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFITS, TRADING LOSSES, LOST TIME OR GOODWILL, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE. THERE ARE NO THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARIES OF ANY AGREEMENTS OR ARRANGEMENTS BETWEEN S&P DOW JONES INDICES AND GOLDMAN, OTHER THAN THE LICENSORS OF S&P DOW JONES INDICES.

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Historical Closing Levels of the Underliers

The closing levels of the underliers have fluctuated in the past and may, in the future, experience significant fluctuations. Any historical upward or downward trend in the closing level of any underlier during the period shown below is not an indication that such underlier is more or less likely to increase or decrease at any time during the life of your notes.

You should not take the historical closing levels of an underlier as an indication of the future performance of an underlier. We cannot give you any assurance that the future performance of any underlier or the underlier stocks will result in you receiving any coupon payments or receiving the outstanding face amount of your notes on the stated maturity date.

Neither we nor any of our affiliates make any representation to you as to the performance of the underliers. Before investing in the offered notes, you should consult publicly available information to determine the relevant underlier levels between the date of this pricing supplement and the date of your purchase of the offered notes. The actual performance of an underlier over the life of the offered notes, as well as the cash settlement amount at maturity may bear little relation to the historical levels shown below.

The graphs below show the daily historical closing levels of each underlier from March 25, 2009 through March 25, 2019. We obtained the levels in the graphs below from Bloomberg Financial Services, without independent verification. Although the official closing levels of the Russell 2000^® Index are published to six decimal places by the underlier sponsor, Bloomberg Financial Services reports the levels of the Russell 2000^® Index to fewer decimal places.

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Historical Performance of the Russell 2000^® Index

 

 

 

Historical Performance of the S&P 500^® Index

 

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Historical Performance of the S&P MidCap 400^® Index  

 

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SUPPLEMENTAL DISCUSSION OF FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

The following section supplements the discussion of U.S. federal income taxation in the accompanying prospectus.

The following section is the opinion of Sidley Austin LLP, counsel to GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. In addition, it is the opinion of Sidley Austin LLP that the characterization of the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes that will be required under the terms of the notes, as discussed below, is a reasonable interpretation of current law.

This section does not apply to you if you are a member of a class of holders subject to special rules, such as:

Although this section is based on the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, its legislative history, existing and proposed regulations under the Internal Revenue Code, published rulings and court decisions, all as currently in effect, no statutory, judicial or administrative authority directly discusses how your notes should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as a result, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of your investment in your notes are uncertain. Moreover, these laws are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis.

United States Holders

This section applies to you only if you are a United States holder that holds your notes as a capital asset for tax purposes. You are a United States holder if you are a beneficial owner of a note and you are:

Tax Treatment. You will be obligated pursuant to the terms of the notes — in the absence of a change in law, an administrative determination or a judicial ruling to the contrary — to characterize your notes for all tax purposes as income-bearing pre-paid derivative contracts in respect of the underliers. Except as otherwise stated below, the discussion below assumes that the notes will be so treated.

Coupon payments that you receive should be included in ordinary income at the time you receive the payment or when the payment accrues, in accordance with your regular method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Upon the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity of your notes, you should recognize capital gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized on the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity (excluding any amounts attributable to accrued and unpaid coupon payments, which will be taxable as described above) and your tax basis in your notes. Your tax basis in your notes will generally be equal to the amount that you paid for the notes. Such capital gain or loss should generally be short-term capital gain or loss if you hold the notes for one year or less, and should be long-term capital gain or loss if you hold the notes for more than one year. Short-term capital gains are generally subject to tax at the marginal tax rates applicable to ordinary income.

No statutory, judicial or administrative authority directly discusses how your notes should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of your

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investment in the notes are uncertain and alternative characterizations are possible. Accordingly, we urge you to consult your tax advisor in determining the tax consequences of an investment in your notes in your particular circumstances, including the application of state, local or other tax laws and the possible effects of changes in federal or other tax laws.

Alternative Treatments. There is no judicial or administrative authority discussing how your notes should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Therefore, the Internal Revenue Service might assert that a treatment other than that described above is more appropriate. For example, the Internal Revenue Service could treat your notes as a single debt instrument subject to special rules governing contingent payment debt instruments.

Under those rules, the amount of interest you are required to take into account for each accrual period would be determined by constructing a projected payment schedule for the notes and applying rules similar to those for accruing original issue discount on a hypothetical noncontingent debt instrument with that projected payment schedule. This method is applied by first determining the comparable yield — i.e., the yield at which we would issue a noncontingent fixed rate debt instrument with terms and conditions similar to your notes — and then determining a payment schedule as of the applicable original issue date that would produce the comparable yield. These rules may have the effect of requiring you to include interest in income in respect of your notes prior to your receipt of cash attributable to that income.

If the rules governing contingent payment debt instruments apply, any income you recognize upon the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity of your notes would be treated as ordinary interest income. Any loss you recognize at that time would be treated as ordinary loss to the extent of interest you included as income in the current or previous taxable years in respect of your notes, and, thereafter, as capital loss.

If the rules governing contingent payment debt instruments apply, special rules would apply to persons who purchase a note at other than the adjusted issue price as determined for tax purposes.

It is possible that the Internal Revenue Service could assert that your notes should generally be characterized as described above, except that (1) the gain you recognize upon the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity of your notes should be treated as ordinary income or (2) you should not include the coupon payments in income as you receive them but instead you should reduce your basis in your notes by the amount of coupon payments that you receive. It is also possible that the Internal Revenue Service could seek to characterize your notes in a manner that results in tax consequences to you different from those described above.

It is also possible that the Internal Revenue Service could seek to characterize your notes as notional principal contracts. It is also possible that the coupon payments would not be treated as either ordinary income or interest for U.S. federal income tax purposes, but instead would be treated in some other manner.

You should consult your tax advisor as to possible alternative characterizations of your notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Possible Change in Law

In 2007, legislation was introduced in Congress that, if enacted, would have required holders that acquired instruments such as your notes after the bill was enacted to accrue interest income over the term of such instruments. It is not possible to predict whether a similar or identical bill will be enacted in the future, or whether any such bill would affect the tax treatment of your notes.

In addition, on December 7, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service released a notice stating that the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are actively considering issuing guidance regarding the proper U.S. federal income tax treatment of an instrument such as the offered notes including whether the holders should be required to accrue ordinary income on a current basis and whether gain or loss should be ordinary or capital. It is not possible to determine what guidance they will ultimately issue, if any. It is possible, however, that under such guidance, holders of the notes will ultimately be required to accrue income currently and this could be applied on a retroactive basis. The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are also considering other relevant issues, including whether foreign holders of such instruments should be subject to withholding tax on any deemed income accruals, and whether the special “constructive ownership rules” of Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code might be applied to such instruments. Except to the extent otherwise provided by law, GS Finance Corp. intends to continue treating the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes in accordance with the treatment described above unless and until such time as Congress, the Treasury Department or the Internal Revenue Service determine that some other treatment is more appropriate.

It is impossible to predict what any such legislation or administrative or regulatory guidance might provide, and whether the effective date of any legislation or guidance will affect notes that were issued before the date that such legislation or guidance is issued. You are urged to consult your tax advisor as to the possibility that any legislative or administrative action may adversely affect the tax treatment of your notes.

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United States Alien Holders

This section applies to you only if you are a United States alien holder. You are a United States alien holder if you are the beneficial owner of the notes and are, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

Because the U.S. federal income tax treatment (including the applicability of withholding) of the coupon payments on the notes is uncertain, in the absence of further guidance, we intend to withhold on the coupon payments made to you at a 30% rate or at a lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty under an “other income” or similar provision. We will not make payments of any additional amounts. To claim a reduced treaty rate for withholding, you generally must provide a valid Internal Revenue Service Form W-8BEN, Internal Revenue Service Form W-8BEN-E, or an acceptable substitute form upon which you certify, under penalty of perjury, your status as a U.S. alien holder and your entitlement to the lower treaty rate. Payments will be made to you at a reduced treaty rate of withholding only if such reduced treaty rate would apply to any possible characterization of the payments (including, for example, if the coupon payments were characterized as contract fees). Withholding also may not apply to coupon payments made to you if: (i) the coupon payments are “effectively connected” with your conduct of a trade or business in the United States and are includable in your gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, (ii) the coupon payments are attributable to a permanent establishment that you maintain in the United States, if required by an applicable tax treaty, and (iii) you comply with the requisite certification requirements (generally, by providing an Internal Revenue Service Form W-8ECI). If you are eligible for a reduced rate of United States withholding tax, you may obtain a refund of any amounts withheld in excess of that rate by filing a refund claim with the Internal Revenue Service.

“Effectively connected” payments includable in your United States gross income are generally taxed at rates applicable to United States citizens, resident aliens, and domestic corporations; if you are a corporate United States alien holder, “effectively connected” payments may be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” under certain circumstances.

You will also be subject to generally applicable information reporting and backup withholding requirements with respect to payments on your notes and, notwithstanding that we do not intend to treat the notes as debt for tax purposes, we intend to backup withhold on such payments with respect to your notes unless you comply with the requirements necessary to avoid backup withholding on debt instruments (in which case you will not be subject to such backup withholding) as set forth under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — United States Alien Holders” in the accompanying prospectus.

Furthermore, on December 7, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2008-2 soliciting comments from the public on various issues, including whether instruments such as your notes should be subject to withholding. It is therefore possible that rules will be issued in the future, possibly with retroactive effects, that would cause payments on your notes to be subject to withholding, even if you comply with certification requirements as to your foreign status.

As discussed above, alternative characterizations of the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes are possible. Should an alternative characterization of the notes, by reason of a change or clarification of the law, by regulation or otherwise, cause payments with respect to the notes to become subject to withholding tax, we will withhold tax at the applicable statutory rate and we will not make payments of any additional amounts. Prospective United States alien holders of the notes should consult their tax advisors in this regard.

In addition, the Treasury Department has issued regulations under which amounts paid or deemed paid on certain financial instruments (“871(m) financial instruments”) that are treated as attributable to U.S.-source dividends could be treated, in whole or in part depending on the circumstances, as a “dividend equivalent” payment that is subject to tax at a rate of 30% (or a lower rate under an applicable treaty), which in the case of any coupon payments and any amounts you receive upon the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity of your notes, could be collected via withholding. If these regulations were to apply to the notes, we may be required to withhold such taxes if any U.S.-source dividends are paid on the stocks included in the underliers during the term of the notes. We could also require you to make certifications (e.g., an applicable Internal Revenue Service Form W-8) prior to any coupon payment or the maturity of the notes in order to avoid or minimize withholding obligations, and we could withhold accordingly (subject to your potential right to claim a refund from the Internal Revenue Service) if such certifications were not received or were not satisfactory. If withholding was required, we would not be required to pay any additional amounts with respect to amounts so withheld. These regulations generally will apply to 871(m) financial instruments (or a combination of financial instruments treated as having been entered into in connection with each

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other) issued (or significantly modified and treated as retired and reissued) on or after January 1, 2021, but will also apply to certain 871(m) financial instruments (or a combination of financial instruments treated as having been entered into in connection with each other) that have a delta (as defined in the applicable Treasury regulations) of one and are issued (or significantly modified and treated as retired and reissued) on or after January 1, 2017. In addition, these regulations will not apply to financial instruments that reference a “qualified index” (as defined in the regulations). We have determined that, as of the issue date of your notes, your notes will not be subject to withholding under these rules. In certain limited circumstances, however, you should be aware that it is possible for United States alien holders to be liable for tax under these rules with respect to a combination of transactions treated as having been entered into in connection with each other even when no withholding is required. You should consult your tax advisor concerning these regulations, subsequent official guidance and regarding any other possible alternative characterizations of your notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding

Pursuant to Treasury regulations, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) withholding (as described in “United States Taxation—Taxation of Debt Securities—Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding” in the accompanying prospectus) will generally apply to obligations that are issued on or after July 1, 2014; therefore, the notes will generally be subject to the FATCA withholding rules. Pursuant to recently proposed regulations, the Treasury Department has indicated its intent to eliminate the requirements under FATCA of withholding on gross proceeds from the sale, exchange, maturity or other disposition of relevant financial instruments. The Treasury Department has indicated that taxpayers may rely on these proposed regulations pending their finalization.

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Supplemental plan of distribution; conflicts of interest

See “Supplemental Plan of Distribution” on page S-96 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734 and “Plan of Distribution — Conflicts of Interest” on page 94 of the accompanying prospectus. GS Finance Corp. estimates that its share of the total offering expenses, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions, will be approximately $20,000.

GS Finance Corp. will sell to GS&Co., and GS&Co. will purchase from GS Finance Corp., the aggregate face amount of the offered notes specified on the front cover of this prospectus supplement.  GS&Co. proposes initially to offer the notes to the public at the original issue price set forth on the cover page of this pricing supplement.

GS&Co. is an affiliate of GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and, as such, will have a “conflict of interest” in this offering of notes within the meaning of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) Rule 5121. Consequently, this offering of notes will be conducted in compliance with the provisions of FINRA Rule 5121. GS&Co. will not be permitted to sell notes in this offering to an account over which it exercises discretionary authority without the prior specific written approval of the account holder. 

We will deliver the notes against payment therefor in New York, New York on March 28, 2019. Under Rule 15c6-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, trades in the secondary market generally are required to settle in two business days, unless the parties to any such trade expressly agree otherwise. Accordingly, purchasers who wish to trade notes on any date prior to two business days before delivery will be required to specify alternative settlement arrangements to prevent a failed settlement.

We have been advised by GS&Co. that it intends to make a market in the notes. However, neither GS&Co. nor any of our other affiliates that makes a market is obligated to do so and any of them may stop doing so at any time without notice. No assurance can be given as to the liquidity or trading market for the notes.

The notes will not be listed on any securities exchange or interdealer quotation system.

 

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VALIDITY OF THE NOTES AND GUARANTEE

In the opinion of Sidley Austin llp, as counsel to GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., when the notes offered by this pricing supplement have been executed and issued by GS Finance Corp., the related guarantee offered by this pricing supplement has been executed and issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., and such notes have been authenticated by the trustee pursuant to the indenture, and such notes and the guarantee have been delivered against payment as contemplated herein, (a) such notes will be valid and binding obligations of GS Finance Corp., enforceable in accordance with their terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws affecting creditors' rights generally, concepts of reasonableness and equitable principles of general applicability (including, without limitation, concepts of good faith, fair dealing and the lack of bad faith), provided that such counsel expresses no opinion as to the effect of fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer or similar provision of applicable law on the conclusions expressed above and (b) such related guarantee will be a valid and binding obligation of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., enforceable in accordance with its terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws affecting creditors' rights generally, concepts of reasonableness and equitable principles of general applicability (including, without limitation, concepts of good faith, fair dealing and the lack of bad faith), provided that such counsel expresses no opinion as to the effect of fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer or similar provision of applicable law on the conclusions expressed above. This opinion is given as of the date hereof and is limited to the laws of the State of New York and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware as in effect on the date hereof. In addition, this opinion is subject to customary assumptions about the trustee’s authorization, execution and delivery of the indenture and the genuineness of signatures and certain factual matters, all as stated in the letter of such counsel dated July 10, 2017, which has been filed as Exhibit 5.6 to the registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. on July 10, 2017.

 

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We have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained or incorporated by reference in this pricing supplement, the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734, the accompanying prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This pricing supplement, the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734, the accompanying prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus is an offer to sell only the notes offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this pricing supplement, the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734, the accompanying prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus is current only as of the respective dates of such documents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pricing Supplement

 

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$500,000

 

 

GS Finance Corp.

 

 

Autocallable Contingent Coupon Index-Linked Notes due 2023

 

guaranteed by

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

 

 

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC