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The notes do not bear interest.  The amount that you will be paid on your notes on the stated maturity date (April 29, 2020) is based on the performance of a weighted basket comprised of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust (60% weighting) and the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF (40% weighting) as measured from the trade date (September 20, 2018) to and including the determination date (April 24, 2020).

The return on your notes is linked to the performances of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust and the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF and not to that of the S&P MidCap 400® Index or the Russell 2000® Index (each, an underlying index) on which the respective ETFs are based. The performance of any ETF may significantly diverge from that of its underlying index. In particular, the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF follows a strategy of “representative sampling,” which means such ETF’s holdings are not the same as those of its respective underlying index.

The initial basket level is 100 and the final basket level will equal the sum of the products, as calculated for each basket underlier, of: (i) the final underlier level divided by the initial underlier level ($373.05 with respect to the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust and $171.22 with respect to the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF) multiplied by (ii) the applicable initial weighted value for each basket underlier.  If the final basket level on the determination date is greater than the initial basket level, the return on your notes will be positive and will equal 1.5 times the basket return, subject to the maximum settlement amount of $1,183 for each $1,000 face amount of your notes). If the final basket level declines by up to 10% from the initial basket level, you will receive the face amount of your notes. If the final basket level declines by more than 10% from the initial basket level, the return on your notes will be negative and will equal the basket return plus 10%.  You could lose a significant portion of the face amount of your notes.

To determine your payment at maturity, we will calculate the basket return, which is the percentage increase or decrease in the final basket level from the initial basket level.  At maturity, for each $1,000 face amount of your notes, you will receive an amount in cash equal to:

·                  if the basket return is positive (the final basket level is greater than the initial basket level), the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) $1,000 times (b) 1.5 times (c) the basket return, subject to the maximum settlement amount;

·                  if the basket return is zero or negative but not below -10% (the final basket level is equal to or less than the initial basket level but not by more than 10%), $1,000; or

·                  if the basket return is negative and is below -10% (the final basket level is less than the initial basket level by more than 10%), the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) the sum of the basket return plus 10% times (b) $1,000. You will receive less than the face amount of your notes.

Declines in one basket underlier may offset increases in the other basket underlier. Due to the unequal weighting of each basket underlier, the performance of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust will have a larger impact on your return on the notes than the performance of the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF.

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-13.

The estimated value of your notes at the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date is equal to approximately $995 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.

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. 4,252 dated September 20, 2018.

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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.

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SUMMARY INFORMATION

Key Terms

Issuer:  GS Finance Corp.

Guarantor:  The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Basket underliers: the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust (Bloomberg symbol, “MDY UP”); and the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF (Bloomberg symbol, “IWM UP Equity”); see “The Basket and the Basket Underliers” on page PS-20

Underlying index of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust: the S&P MidCap 400® Index (Bloomberg symbol, “MID Index”), as published by S&P

Underlying index of the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF: the Russell 2000® Index (Bloomberg symbol, “RTY Index”), as published by FTSE Russell

Specified currency:  U.S. dollars (“$”)

Terms to be specified in accordance with the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738:

·                  type of notes: notes linked to basket of underliers

·                  exchange rates: not applicable

·                  buffer level: yes, as described below

·                  cap level: yes, as described below

·                  averaging dates: not applicable

·                  interest: not applicable

·                  redemption right or price dependent redemption right: not applicable

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Face amount:  each note will have a face amount of $1,000; $3,114,000 in the aggregate for all the offered notes; the aggregate face amount of the offered notes may be increased if the issuer, at its sole option, decides to sell an additional amount of the offered notes on a date subsequent to the date of this pricing supplement

Purchase at amount other than face amount: the amount we will pay you at the stated maturity date for your notes will not be adjusted based on the issue price you pay for your notes, so if you acquire notes at a premium (or discount) to face amount and hold them to the stated maturity date, it could affect your investment in a number of ways.  The return on your investment in such notes will be lower (or higher) than it would have been had you purchased the notes at face amount.  Also, the stated buffer level would not offer the same measure of protection to your investment as would be the case if you had purchased the notes at face amount. Additionally, the cap level would be triggered at a lower (or higher) percentage return than indicated below, relative to your initial investment. See “Additional Risk Factors Specific to Your Notes — 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” on page PS-15 of this pricing supplement

Supplemental discussion of federal income tax consequences:  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 each note for all tax purposes as a pre-paid derivative contract in respect of the basket underliers, as described under “Supplemental Discussion of Federal Income Tax Consequences” on page S-41 of the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738. Pursuant to this approach, it is the opinion of Sidley Austin LLP that upon the sale, exchange or maturity of your notes, it would be reasonable for you to recognize capital gain or loss equal to the difference, if any, between the amount of cash you receive at such time and your tax basis in your notes.  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 FATCA withholding. However, according to published guidance, the withholding tax described above will not apply to payments of gross proceeds from the sale, exchange or other disposition of the notes made before January 1, 2019.

Cash settlement amount: for each $1,000 face amount of your notes, we will pay you on the stated maturity date an amount in cash equal to:

·                  if the final basket level is greater than or equal to the cap level, the maximum settlement amount;

·                  if the final basket level is greater than the initial basket level but less than the cap level, the sum of (1) $1,000 plus (2) the product of (i) $1,000 times (ii) the upside participation rate times (iii) the basket return;

·                  if the final basket level is equal to or less than the initial basket level but greater than or equal to the buffer level, $1,000; or

·                  if the final basket level is less than the buffer level, the sum of (1) $1,000 plus (2) the product of (i) $1,000 times (ii) the buffer rate times (iii) the sum of the basket return plus the buffer amount

Initial basket level: 100

Initial weighted value:  the initial weighted value for each of the basket underliers equals the product of the initial weight of such basket underlier times the initial basket level. The initial weight of each basket underlier is shown in the table below:

Initial SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust level: $373.05

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Initial iShares® Russell 2000 ETF level: $171.22

Final SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust level:  the closing level of such basket underlier on the determination date, except in the limited circumstances described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Consequences of a Market Disruption Event or a Non-Trading Day” on page S-23 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734, and subject to anti-dilution adjustments as described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Anti-dilution Adjustments for Exchange-Traded Funds” on page S-28 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734 and subject to adjustment as provided under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Discontinuance or Modification of an Underlier” on page S-27 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734

Final iShares® Russell 2000 ETF level:  the closing level of such basket underlier on the determination date, except in the limited circumstances described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Consequences of a Market Disruption Event or a Non-Trading Day” on page S-23 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734, and subject to anti-dilution adjustments as described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Anti-dilution Adjustments for Exchange-Traded Funds” on page S-28 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734 and subject to adjustment as provided under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Discontinuance or Modification of an Underlier” on page S-27 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734

Final basket level:  the sum of the following:  (1) the final SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust level divided by the initial SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust level, multiplied by the initial weighted value of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust plus (2) the final iShares® Russell 2000 ETF level divided by the initial iShares® Russell 2000 ETF level, multiplied by the initial weighted value of the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF

Basket return:  the quotient of (1) the final basket level minus the initial basket level divided by (2) the initial basket level, expressed as a percentage

Upside participation rate: 150%

Cap level: 112.2% of the initial basket level

Maximum settlement amount: $1,183

Buffer level: 90% of the initial basket level

Buffer amount: 10%

Buffer rate: 100%

Trade date: September 20, 2018

Original issue date (settlement date):  September 25, 2018

Stated maturity date: April 29, 2020, subject to adjustment as described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Stated Maturity Date” on page S-16 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734

Determination date: April 24, 2020, subject to adjustment as described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Determination Date” on page S-17 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734

No interest:  the offered notes do not bear interest

No listing:  the offered notes will not be listed on any securities exchange or interdealer quotation system

No redemption:  the offered notes will not be subject to redemption right or price dependent redemption right

Closing level:  with respect to each underlier, as described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Special Calculation Provisions — Closing Level” on page S-31 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734, subject to anti-dilution adjustments as described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Anti-Dilution Adjustments for Exchange-Traded Funds” on page S-28 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734

Business day:  as described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Special Calculation Provisions — Business Day” on page S-30 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734

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Trading day:  as described under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Special Calculation Provisions — Trading Day” on page S-31 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734

Use of proceeds and hedging:  as described under “Use of Proceeds” and “Hedging” on page S-40 of the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738

ERISA:  as described under “Employee Retirement Income Security Act” on page S-48 of the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738

Supplemental plan of distribution; conflicts of interest:  as described under “Supplemental Plan of Distribution” on page S-49 of the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738 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. has agreed to sell to Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (“GS&Co.”), and GS&Co. has agreed to purchase from GS Finance Corp., the aggregate face amount of the offered notes specified on the front cover of this pricing 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 September 25, 2018. 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.

Calculation agent:  GS&Co.

CUSIP no.: 40055QYP1

ISIN no.: US40055QYP17

FDIC: 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

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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 the impact that the various hypothetical basket closing levels or hypothetical closing levels of the basket underliers, as applicable, 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 final basket levels and closing levels of the basket underliers that are entirely hypothetical; no one can predict what the level of the basket will be on any day throughout the life of your notes, and no one can predict what the final basket level will be on the determination date.  The basket underliers have been highly volatile in the past — meaning that the levels of the basket underliers have changed considerably in relatively short periods — and their performances 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 the stated maturity date.  If you sell your notes in a secondary market prior to the stated maturity date, 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 basket 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-13 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 basket over the life of your notes, as well as the amount payable at maturity, may bear little relation to the hypothetical examples shown below or to the historical level of each basket underlier shown elsewhere in this pricing supplement.  For information about the historical level of each basket underlier during recent periods, see “The Basket and the Basket Underliers — Historical Closing Levels of the Basket Underliers” below.  Before investing in the offered

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notes, you should consult publicly available information to determine the level of the basket underliers between the date of this pricing supplement and the date of your purchase of the offered 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 basket underliers.

The levels in the left column of the table below represent hypothetical final basket levels and are expressed as percentages of the initial basket level.  The amounts in the right column represent the hypothetical cash settlement amounts, based on the corresponding hypothetical final basket level (expressed as a percentage of the initial basket level), 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 basket level (expressed as a percentage of the initial basket level) and the assumptions noted above.

________________

If, for example, the final basket level were determined to be 25.000% of the initial basket level, the cash settlement amount that we would deliver on your notes at maturity would be 35.000% 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 65.000% 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 basket level were determined to be 200.000% of the initial basket level, the cash settlement amount that we would deliver on your notes at maturity would be capped at the maximum settlement amount (expressed as a percentage of the face amount), or 118.300% 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 basket level over 112.200% of the initial basket level.

The following chart also shows a graphical illustration of the hypothetical cash settlement amounts (expressed as a percentage of the face amount of your notes) that we would pay on your notes on the stated maturity date, if the final basket level (expressed as a percentage of the initial basket level) were any of the hypothetical levels shown on the horizontal axis. The chart shows that any hypothetical final basket level (expressed as a percentage of the initial basket level) of less than 90.000% (the section left of the 90.000% marker on the horizontal axis) would result in a hypothetical cash settlement amount of less than

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100.000% of the face amount of your notes (the section below the 100.000% marker on the vertical axis) and, accordingly, in a loss of principal to the holder of the notes. The chart also shows that any hypothetical final basket level (expressed as a percentage of the initial basket level) of greater than or equal to 112.200% (the section right of the 112.200% marker on the horizontal axis) would result in a capped return on your investment.

The following examples illustrate the hypothetical cash settlement amount at maturity for each note based on hypothetical final levels of the basket underliers, calculated based on the key terms and assumptions above. The levels in Column A represent initial levels for each basket underlier, and the levels in Column B represent hypothetical final levels for each basket underlier. The percentages in Column C represent hypothetical final levels for each basket underlier in Column B expressed as percentages of the corresponding initial levels in Column A. The amounts in Column D represent the applicable initial weighted value for each basket underlier, and the amounts in Column E represent the products of the percentages in Column C times the corresponding amounts in Column D. The final basket level for each example is shown beneath each example, and will equal the sum of the products shown in Column E. The basket return for each example is shown beneath the final basket level for such example, and will equal the quotient of (i) the final basket level for such example minus the initial basket level divided by (ii) the initial basket level, expressed as a percentage. The values below have been rounded for ease of analysis.

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Example 1:  The final basket level is greater than the cap level.  The cash settlement amount equals the maximum settlement amount.

In this example, all of the hypothetical final levels for the basket underliers are greater than the applicable initial levels, which results in the hypothetical final basket level being greater than the initial basket level of 100.00.  Since the hypothetical final basket level was determined to be 150.00, the hypothetical cash settlement amount that we would deliver on your notes at maturity would be capped at the maximum settlement amount of $1,183 for each $1,000 face amount of your notes (i.e. 118.300% of each $1,000 face amount of your notes).

Example 2:  The final basket level is greater than the initial basket level but less than the cap level.

In this example, all of the hypothetical final levels for the basket underliers are greater than the applicable initial levels, which results in the hypothetical final basket level being greater than the initial basket level of 100.00.  Since the hypothetical final basket level was determined to be 105.00, the hypothetical cash settlement amount for each $1,000 face amount of your notes will equal:

Cash settlement amount = $1,000 + ($1,000 × 150.00% × 5.00%) = $1,075.00

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Example 3:  The final basket level is less than the initial basket level, but greater than the buffer level.  The cash settlement amount equals the $1,000 face amount.

In this example, all of the hypothetical final levels for the basket underliers are less than the applicable initial levels, which results in the hypothetical final basket level being less than the initial basket level of 100.00.  Since the hypothetical final basket level of 95.00 is greater than the buffer level of 90.00% of the initial basket level but less than the initial basket level of 100, the hypothetical cash settlement amount for each $1,000 face amount of your notes will equal the face amount of the note, or $1,000.

Example 4:  The final basket level is less than the buffer level.  The cash settlement amount is less than the $1,000 face amount.

In this example, the hypothetical final level of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust is less than its initial level, while the hypothetical final level of the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF is greater than its applicable initial level.

Because the basket is unequally weighted, increases in the lower weighted basket underliers will be offset by a decrease in the more heavily weighted basket underlier.  In this example, the large decline in the level of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust results in the hypothetical final basket level being less than the buffer level of 90.00% of the initial basket level even though the level of the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF increased.

Since the hypothetical final basket level of 86.00 is less than the buffer level of 90.00% of the initial basket level, the hypothetical cash settlement amount for each $1,000 face amount of your notes will equal:

Cash settlement amount = $1,000 + ($1,000 × 100.00% × (-14.00% + 10.00%)) = $960.00

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Example 5:  The final basket level is less than the buffer level.  The cash settlement amount is less than the $1,000 face amount.

In this example, the hypothetical final levels for all of the basket underliers are less than the applicable initial levels, which results in the hypothetical final basket level being less than the initial basket level of 100.00.  Since the hypothetical final basket level of 50.00 is less than the buffer level of 90.00% of the initial basket level, the hypothetical cash settlement amount for each $1,000 face amount of your notes will equal:

Cash settlement amount = $1,000 + ($1,000 × 100.00% × (-50.00% + 10.00%)) = $600.00

The cash settlement amounts shown above are entirely hypothetical; they are based on levels of the basket underliers 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 Underlier-Linked Notes — The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors” on page S-32 of the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738.

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.

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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, and 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 Underlier-Linked Notes — The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors” on page S-32 of the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738.

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

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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.

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 Underlier-Linked Notes — Your Notes May Not Have an Active Trading Market” on page S-31 of the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738.

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

Although the return on the notes will be based on the performance of the basket underliers, 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.

The Amount Payable on Your Notes Is Not Linked to the Level of Each Basket Underlier at Any Time Other than the Determination Date

The final basket level will be based on the closing levels of the basket underliers on the determination date (subject to adjustment as described elsewhere in this pricing supplement). Therefore, if the closing levels of the basket underliers dropped precipitously on the determination date, the cash settlement amount for your notes may be significantly less than it would have been had the cash settlement amount been linked to the closing levels of the basket underliers prior to such drop in the levels of the basket underliers.  Although the actual levels of the basket underliers on the stated maturity date or at other times during the life of your notes may be higher than the closing levels of the basket underliers on the determination date, you will not benefit from the closing levels of the basket underliers at any time other than on the determination date.

You May Lose a Substantial Portion of Your Investment in the Notes

You can lose a substantial portion of your investment in the notes. The cash payment on your notes on the stated maturity date will be based on the performance of a weighted basket comprised of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust and the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF as measured from the initial basket level of 100 to the final basket level on the determination date. If the final basket level for your notes is less than the 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 buffer rate times (ii) the sum of the basket return plus the buffer amount times (iii) $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 the stated maturity date 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.

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Your Notes Do Not Bear Interest

You will not receive any interest payments on your notes. As a result, even if the cash settlement amount payable for your notes on the stated maturity date exceeds the face amount of your notes, the overall return you earn on your notes may be less than you would have earned by investing in a non-indexed debt security of comparable maturity that bears interest at a prevailing market rate.

The Potential for the Value of Your Notes to Increase Will Be Limited

Your ability to participate in any change in the value of the basket over the life of your notes will be limited because of the cap level.  The maximum settlement amount will limit the amount in cash you may receive for each of your notes at maturity, no matter how much the level of the basket may rise beyond the cap level over the life of your notes.  Accordingly, the amount payable for each of your notes may be significantly less than it would have been had you invested directly in the basket or any of the basket underliers.

The Lower Performance of One Basket Underlier May Offset an Increase in the Other Basket Underlier

Declines in the level of one basket underlier may offset increases in the levels of the other basket underlier. As a result, any return on the basket — and thus on your notes — may be reduced or eliminated, which will have the effect of reducing the amount payable in respect of your notes at maturity. In addition, because the basket underliers are not equally weighted, increases in the lower weighted basket underlier may be offset by even small decreases in the more heavily weighted basket underlier. Due to the weighting of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust in the basket relative to the other basket underlier, any decrease in the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust will have a larger impact on your return on the notes than any proportional increase in the other basket underlier.

The Return on Your Notes Will Not Reflect Any Dividends Paid on the Basket Underliers or the Basket Underlier Stocks, as Applicable

The return on your notes will not reflect the return you would realize if you actually owned the basket underliers and received the dividends paid on the shares of such basket underliers. You will not receive any dividends that may be paid on the shares of the basket underliers. See “— You Have No Shareholder Rights or Rights to Receive Any Shares of a Basket Underlier or Any Basket Underlier Stocks” below for additional information.

You Have No Shareholder Rights or Rights to Receive Any Shares of a Basket Underlier or Any Basket Underlier Stocks

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

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 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

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in such notes held to 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 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. In addition, the impact of the buffer level and the cap level on the return on your investment will depend upon the price you pay for your notes relative to the face amount. For example, if you purchase your notes at a premium to face amount, the cap level will only permit a lower positive return on your investment in the notes than would have been the case for notes purchased at face amount or a discount to the face amount. Similarly, the buffer level, while still providing some protection for the return on the notes, will allow a greater percentage decrease in your investment in the notes than would have been the case for notes purchased at face amount or a discount to face amount.

The Policies of the Investment Advisor or Trustee for Any Basket Underlier and of the Underlying Index Sponsor of the Underlying Index Tracked By Any Basket Underlier Could Affect the Amount Payable on Your Notes and Their Market Value

The investment advisor or trustee, as applicable, of any basket underlier may from time to time be called upon to make certain policy decisions or judgments with respect to such basket underlier, including those concerning the calculation of the net asset value of such basket underlier, additions, deletions or substitutions of securities held by such basket underlier and the manner in which changes affecting the underlying index for such basket underlier are reflected in such basket underlier, that could affect the market price of the shares of the basket underlier, and therefore, the amount payable on your notes, if any, on the stated maturity date. The amount payable on your notes and their market value could also be affected if the investment advisor or trustee, as applicable, changes its policies, for example, by changing the manner in which it calculates the net asset value of such basket underlier, or if the investment advisor or trustee, as applicable, discontinues or suspends calculation or publication of the net asset value of such basket underlier, in which case it may become difficult or inappropriate to determine the market value of your notes. The investment advisor of the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF is BlackRock Fund Advisors and the trustee of SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust is The Bank of New York Mellon.

If events such as these occur, the calculation agent — which initially will be GS&Co., our affiliate — may determine the closing level of such basket underlier on the determination date — and thus the amount payable on the stated maturity date — in a manner, in its sole discretion, it considers appropriate. We describe the discretion that the calculation agent will have in determining the levels of the basket underliers on the determination date and the amount payable on your notes more fully under “Supplemental Terms of the Notes — Discontinuance or Modification of a Basket Underlier” on page S-27 and “— Role of Calculation Agent” on page S-28 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 1,734.

In addition, the underlier sponsor of the underlying index of any basket underlier owns each underlying index and is responsible for the design and maintenance of that underlying index. The policies of an underlier sponsor concerning the calculation of a particular underlying index, including decisions regarding the addition, deletion or substitution of the equity securities included in that underlying index, could affect the level of that underlying index and, consequently, could affect the market prices of shares of the related basket underlier and, therefore, the cash settlement amount payable on your notes and their market value. The underlier sponsor for the underlying index of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust is S&P and the underlier sponsor of the underlying index of the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF is FTSE Russell.

There Are Risks Associated With the Basket Underliers

Although each basket underlier’s shares are listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “NYSE Arca”) and a number of similar products have been traded on the NYSE Arca or other securities exchanges for varying periods of time, there is no assurance that an active trading market will continue for the shares of such basket underlier or that there will be liquidity in the trading market.

In addition, each basket underlier is subject to management risk, which is the risk that such basket underlier’s investment advisor’s investment strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. For example, in the case of the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF, the basket underlier’s investment advisor may select up to 10% of such basket underlier’s assets to be invested in shares of equity securities that are not included in its underlying index. The basket underliers are

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also not actively managed and each basket underlier may be affected by a general decline in market segments relating to its underlying index.  Each basket underlier’s investment advisor or trustee, as applicable, invests in securities included in, or representative of, its underlying index regardless of their investment merits.  The applicable investment advisor or trustee does not attempt to take defensive positions in declining markets.

In addition, each basket underlier is subject to custody risk, which refers to the risks in the process of clearing and settling trades and to the holding of securities by local banks, agent and depositories.

Further, under continuous listing standards adopted by the NYSE Arca, the basket underliers will be required to confirm on an ongoing basis that the components of its underlying index satisfy the applicable listing requirements.  In the event that its underlying index does not comply with the applicable listing requirements, a basket underlier would be required to rectify such non-compliance by requesting that the underlying index sponsor modify such underlying index, adopting a new underlying index or obtaining relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurance that an underlying index sponsor would so modify its underlying index or that relief would be obtained from the Securities and Exchange Commission and, therefore, non-compliance with the continuous listing standards may result in the basket underlier being delisted by the NYSE Arca.

Each Basket Underlier and Each Underlying Index are Different and the Performance of Each Basket Underlier May Not Correlate with the Performance of its Underlying Index

Each basket underlier may not hold all or substantially all of the equity securities included in its underlying index and may hold securities or assets not included in its underlying index. For example, the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF uses a representative sampling strategy to attempt to track the performance of its underlying index. Therefore, while the performance of each basket underlier is generally linked to the performance of its underlying index, the performance of each basket underlier is also linked in part to shares of equity securities not included in its underlying index and to the performance of other assets, such as futures contracts, options and swaps, as well as cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds affiliated with its investment advisor or trustee, as applicable.

Imperfect correlation between a basket underlier’s portfolio securities and those in its underlying index, rounding of prices, changes to its underlying index and regulatory requirements may cause tracking error, which is the divergence of a basket underlier’s performance from that of its underlying index.

In addition, the performance of each basket underlier will reflect additional transaction costs and fees that are not included in the calculation of its underlying index and this may increase the tracking error of such basket underlier. Also, corporate actions with respect to the sample of equity securities (such as mergers and spin-offs) may impact the performance differential between each basket underlier and its underlying index. Finally, because the shares of each basket underlier are traded on the NYSE Arca and are subject to market supply and investor demand, the market value of one share of a basket underlier may differ from the net asset value per share of that basket underlier.

For all of the foregoing reasons, the performance of each basket underlier may not correlate with the performance of its underlying index. Consequently, the cash settlement amount payable on your notes will not be the same as investing directly in each basket underlier or in any of the respective basket underlier stocks and will not be the same as investing in a debt security with a payment at maturity linked to the performance of each underlying index or the respective stocks that comprise each underlying index.

There are Small Capitalization Stock Risks Associated with the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF

The iShares® Russell 2000 ETF is generally comprised of stocks of companies that may be considered small capitalization companies. These companies often have greater stock price volatility, lower trading volume and less liquidity than large capitalization companies and therefore the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF may be more volatile than an ETF in which a greater percentage of the constituent stocks are issued by large-capitalization companies.

Your Notes May Be Subject to an Adverse Change in Tax Treatment in the Future

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.

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The Internal Revenue Service announced on December 7, 2007 that it is considering issuing guidance regarding the proper U.S. federal income tax treatment of an instrument such as your notes, and any such guidance could adversely affect the tax treatment and the value 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 even though there will be no interest payments 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” on page S-41 of the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738. 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 S-41 of the accompanying product supplement no. 1,738 unless and until such time as Congress, the Treasury Department or the Internal Revenue Service determine that some other treatment is more appropriate.

United States Alien Holders Should Consider the Withholding Tax Implications of Owning the Notes

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 amounts a United States alien holder receives upon the sale, exchange 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 any of the basket underliers during the term of the notes. We could also require a United States alien holder to make certifications (e.g., an applicable Internal Revenue Service Form W-8) prior to the maturity of the notes in order to avoid or minimize withholding obligations, and we could withhold accordingly (subject to the United States alien holder’s 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 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.

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Your Notes May Be Subject to the Constructive Ownership Rules

There exists a risk that the constructive ownership rules of Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code could apply to your notes. If your notes were subject to the constructive ownership rules, then any long-term capital gain that you realize upon the sale, exchange or maturity of your notes would be re-characterized as ordinary income (and you would be subject to an interest charge on deferred tax liability with respect to such re-characterized capital gain) to the extent that such capital gain exceeds the amount of “net underlying long-term capital gain” (as defined in Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code). Because the application of the constructive ownership rules is unclear you are strongly urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the possible application of the constructive ownership rules to your investment in the notes.

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.

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THE BASKET AND THE BASKET UNDERLIERS

The Basket

The basket is comprised of the following basket underliers with the following initial weights within the basket: the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust (60% weighting) and the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF (40% weighting).

The SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust

The units of the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust (the “units”) are issued by SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust (the “trust”), a unit investment trust that is a registered investment company.

·                  The trust is like a tracking ETF in that it seeks investment results which correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the index.

·     The index it tracks is the S&P MidCap 400® Index.

·     The trust does not have an investment advisor. Its investments are adjusted by the trustee.

·     Trustee: The Bank of New York Mellon.

·     Trust sponsor:  PDR Services, LLC.

·     The units trade on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol “MDY”.

·     The trust’s SEC CIK Number is 0000936958.

·     The inception date for purposes of the units was May 4, 1995.

·     The trust’s units are issued or redeemed only in creation units of 25,000 units.

We obtained the following fee information from the trust’s publicly available information without independent verification. The trustee is entitled to receive a fee for services performed for the trust corresponding to the net asset value of the trust, at an annual rate of 0.14% per annum for the first $500,000,000 of assets, 0.12% per annum for assets over $500,000,000 and up to $1,000,000,000 and 0.10% per annum for assets in excess of $1,000,000,000. In addition to the trustee’s fee, the trust also incurs an S&P license fee in an amount that is approximately equal to 0.03% of the net asset value of the trust and marketing expenses in an amount approximately equal to 0.10% of the net asset value of the trust. As of June 30, 2018, the trust’s gross expense ratio is 0.24% per annum.

For additional information regarding SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust, please consult the reports (including the Annual Report to Shareholders on Form N-30D for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2017) and other information the trust files with the SEC. Additional information regarding the trust, including its top portfolio holdings, may be obtained from other sources including, but not limited to, press releases, newspaper articles, other publicly available documents, and the SPDR® S&P MidCap 400® ETF Trust website at spdrs.com/product/fund.seam?ticker=MDY. We are not incorporating by reference the website, the sources listed above or any material they include in this pricing supplement.

Investment Objective and Strategy

The trust seeks investment results that, before expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P MidCap 400® Index. The trust seeks to achieve its investment objective by holding a portfolio of the common stocks that are included in the S&P MidCap 400® Index, with the weight of each stock in the trust’s portfolio substantially corresponding to the weight of such stock in the S&P MidCap 400® Index. Although the trust may fail to own certain securities included in the S&P MidCap 400® Index at any particular time, the trust generally will be substantially invested in index securities.

To maintain the correspondence between the composition and weightings of the common stocks that are actually held by the trust and the common stocks that are included in the S&P MidCap 400® Index, the trustee adjusts the trust portfolio from time to time to conform to periodic changes made by the S&P MidCap 400® Index sponsor to the identity and/or relative weightings of the common stocks that are included in the S&P MidCap 400® Index. The trustee aggregates certain of these adjustments and makes changes to the

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trust’s portfolio at least monthly, or more frequently in the case of significant changes to the S&P MidCap 400® Index. The trust does not hold or trade futures or swaps and is not a commodity pool.

Notwithstanding the trust’s investment objective, the return on your notes will not reflect any dividends paid on the trust’s shares, on the securities purchased by the trust or on the securities that comprise the S&P MidCap 400® Index.

The following table displays the top ten holdings and weightings by industry sector of the trust and index. (Sector designations are determined by the trust sponsor using criteria it has selected or developed. Index and trust 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 or trusts with different sponsors may reflect differences in methodology as well as actual differences in the sector composition of the indices or trusts.) We obtained the information in the tables below from the trust website without independent verification.

Top Ten Holdings of Trust and Index as of September 4, 2018

Weighting by Sector of Trust and Index as of September 4, 2018*

* Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding

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Correlation

Although the trust intends to track the performance of the S&P MidCap 400® Index as closely as possible, the trust’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of the S&P MidCap 400® Index due to expenses and transaction costs incurred in adjusting the portfolio. In addition, it is possible that the trust may not always fully replicate the performance of the S&P MidCap 400® Index due to unavailability of certain index securities in the secondary market or due to other extraordinary circumstances (e.g., if trading in a security has been halted).

For the period ended August 31, 2018, the SPDR® website gave the following performance figures for market price of a unit and the S&P MidCap 400® Index: unit—1 year on an annualized basis, 19.61%; 3 years on an annualized basis, 14.50%, 5 years on an annualized basis, 12.98%, 10 years on an annualized basis, 11.02%, since inception on an annualized basis, 11.99%; index—1 year on an annualized basis, 20.00%; 3 years on an annualized basis, 14.84%, 5 years on an annualized basis, 13.30%, 10 years on an annualized basis, 11.35%,  since ETF inception on an annualized basis, 12.39%.

Unit Dividends

Holders of units receive dividends on the last business day of each April, July, October and January in an amount corresponding to the amount of any cash dividends declared on the common stocks held by the trust, net of the fees and expenses associated with the operation of the trust, and taxes, if applicable. Because of the fees and expenses, the dividend yield for units is ordinarily less than the hypothetical dividend yield of the S&P MidCap 400® Index. The unit dividends will be reflected in the calculation of the S&P MidCap 400® Index as described under “—Calculation of the Total Return of the S&P MidCap 400® Index” on page PS-24 below.

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 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 S&P MidCap 400® Index prior to July 31, 2017 may be represented by multiple share class lines in the S&P MidCap 400® 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 $1.6 billion and $6.8 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 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 S&P

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MidCap 400® 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 S&P MidCap 400® 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 S&P MidCap 400® 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.

S&P divides the 400 companies included in the S&P MidCap 400® Index into eleven Global Industry Classification Sectors: Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials, Health Care, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate, Telecommunication Services and Utilities. S&P and MSCI, Inc. have announced that the Global Industry Classification Sector structure is expected to be updated after the close of business on September 28, 2018. Among other things, the update is expected to broaden the current Telecommunications Services sector and rename it the Communication Services sector. The renamed sector is expected to include the existing Telecommunication Services Industry group, as well as the Media Industry group, which is expected to move from the Consumer Discretionary sector and be renamed the Media & Entertainment Industry group. The Media & Entertainment Industry group is expected to contain three industries: Media, Entertainment and Interactive Media & Services. The Media industry is expected to continue to consist of the Advertising, Broadcasting, Cable & Satellite and Publishing sub-industries. The Entertainment industry is expected to contain the Movies & Entertainment sub-industry (which is expected to include online entertainment streaming companies in addition to companies currently classified in such industry) and the Interactive Home Entertainment sub-industry (which is expected to include companies from the current Home Entertainment Software sub-industry in the Information Technology sector, as well as producers of mobile gaming applications). The Interactive Media & Services industry and sub-industry is expected to include companies engaged in content and information creation or distribution through proprietary platforms, where revenues are derived primarily through pay-per-click advertisements, and will include search engines, social media and networking platforms, online classifieds and online review companies.

The trust tracks the performance of the total return version of the S&P MidCap 400® Index. A total return index represents the total return earned in a portfolio that tracks the price index and reinvests dividend

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income in the overall index, not in the specific stock paying the dividend. The difference between the price return calculation and the total return calculation is that, with respect to the price return calculation, changes in the index level reflect changes in stock prices, whereas with respect to the total return calculation of the S&P MidCap 400® Index, changes in the index level reflect both movements in stock prices and the reinvestment of dividend income.

Calculation of the Total Return of the S&P MidCap 400® Index

The S&P MidCap 400® Index is calculated using a base-weighted aggregative methodology. The total return calculation begins with the price return of the S&P MidCap 400® Index. The value of the price return index on any day for which an index 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 index stock is the product of the market price per share of that stock times the number of the then-outstanding shares of such index 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 index values over time and is adjusted for all changes in the index 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 index stocks relative to the S&P MidCap 400® Index’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 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 index 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.

Once the price return index has been calculated, the total return index is calculated. First, the total daily dividend for each stock in the S&P MidCap 400® Index is calculated by multiplying the per share dividend by the number of shares included in the S&P MidCap 400® Index. Then the index dividend is calculated by aggregating the total daily dividends for each of the index stocks (which may be zero for some stocks) and dividing by the divisor for that day. Next the daily total return of the S&P MidCap 400® Index is calculated as a fraction minus 1, the numerator of which is the sum of the index level plus the index dividend and the denominator of which is the index level on the previous day. Finally, the total return index for that day is calculated as the product of the value of the total return index on the previous day times the sum of 1 plus the index daily total return for that day.

Notwithstanding the trust’s investment objective, the return on your notes will not reflect any dividends paid on the trust’s shares, on the securities purchased by the trust or on the securities that comprise the S&P MidCap 400® Index.

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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 index maintenance process.  The 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 index methodology, at least once within any 12 month period, the S&P Index Committee reviews the index 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 index stock and consequently of altering the aggregate market value of the index 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 index stock, S&P generally derives a new divisor by dividing the post-event market value of the index stocks by the pre-event index 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 index maintenance process also involves tracking the changes in the number of shares included for each of the index 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.

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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.

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

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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 S&P MidCap 400® Index 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 index calculations. In extreme circumstances, S&P may decide to delay index adjustments or not publish the S&P MidCap 400® Index. Real-time indices are not restated.

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:

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Market Disruption Prior to Open of Trading:

(i) If all exchanges indicate that trading will not open for a given day, S&P will treat the day as an unscheduled market holiday. The decision will be communicated to clients as soon as possible through the normal channels. Indices containing multiple markets will be calculated as normal, provided that at least one market is open that day. Indices which only contain closed markets will not be calculated.

(ii) If exchanges indicate that trading, although delayed, will open for a given day, S&P will begin index calculation when the exchanges open.

Market Disruption Intraday:

(i) If exchanges indicate that trading will not resume for a given day, the S&P MidCap 400® Index level will be calculated using prices determined by the exchanges based on NYSE Rule 123C. Intraday S&P MidCap 400® Index values will continue to use the last traded composite price until the primary exchange publishes official closing prices.

“SPDR®” is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. The S&P MidCap 400® Index is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P or their respective affiliates, and neither S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P or their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the S&P MidCap 400® Index.

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The iShares® Russell 2000 ETF

The shares of the iShares® Russell 2000 ETF (the “ETF”) are issued by iShares® Trust, a registered investment company.

·                  The ETF is a tracking ETF that seeks investment results which correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the index.

·                  The index it tracks is the Russell 2000® Index (the “index”).

·                  Investment Advisor: BlackRock Fund Advisors (“BFA”).

·                  The ETF’s shares trade on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol “IWM”.

·                  The iShares® Trust’s SEC CIK Number is 0001100663.

·                  The ETF’s inception date was May 22, 2000.

·                  The ETF’s shares are issued or redeemed only in creation units of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof.

We obtained the following fee information from the iShares® website without independent verification. The investment advisor is entitled to receive a management fee from the ETF based on the ETF’s allocable portion of an aggregate management fee based on the aggregate average daily net assets of the ETF and a set of other specified iShares® funds (together, the “funds”) as follows: 0.20% per annum of the average daily net assets of the funds less than or equal to $46.0 billion, plus 0.19% per annum of the average daily net assets of the funds on amounts in excess of $46.0 billion, up to and including $81.0 billion, plus 0.1805% per annum of the average daily net assets of the funds on amounts in excess of $81.0 billion, up to and including $111.0 billion, plus 0.1715% per annum of the average daily net assets of the funds on amounts in excess of $111.0 billion, up to and including $141.0 billion, plus 0.163% per annum of the average daily net assets of the funds on amounts in excess of $141.0 billion.  As of June 30, 2018, the expense ratio of the ETF was 0.20% per annum.

For additional information regarding iShares® Trust or BFA, please consult the reports (including the Annual Report to Shareholders on Form N-CSR for the period ended March 31, 2018) and other information iShares® Trust files with the SEC. In addition, information regarding the ETF, including its top portfolio holdings, may be obtained from other sources including, but not limited to, press releases, newspaper articles, other publicly available documents, and the iShares® website at us.ishares.com/product_info/fund/overview/IWM.htm. We are not incorporating by reference the website, the sources listed above or any material they include in this pricing supplement.

Investment Objective

The ETF seeks to achieve a return that corresponds generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the index. The ETF’s investment objective and the index may be changed without shareholder approval. Notwithstanding the ETF’s investment objective, the return on your notes will not reflect any dividends paid on the ETF shares, on the securities purchased by the ETF or on the securities that comprise the index.

The following table displays the top holdings and weightings by industry sector of the ETF. (Sector designations are determined by the ETF sponsor using criteria it has selected or developed. Index and ETF 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 or ETFs with different sponsors may reflect differences in methodology as well as actual differences in the sector composition of the indices or ETFs.) We obtained the information in the tables below from the ETF website without independent verification.

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iShares® Russell 2000 ETF Top Ten Holdings as of September 4, 2018

iShares® Russell 2000 ETF Weighting by Sector as of September 4, 2018*

* Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Representative Sampling

BFA uses a representative sampling indexing strategy to manage the ETF. This strategy involves investing in a representative sample of securities that collectively has an investment profile similar to that of the index. The securities selected are expected to have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics (based on factors such as market capitalization and industry weightings), fundamental characteristics (such as return variability and yield) and liquidity measures similar to those of the index.

The ETF generally invests at least 90% of its assets in the securities of the index and in depositary receipts representing securities of the index. The ETF may invest the remainder of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents, including shares of money market funds advised by BFA or its affiliates, as well as in securities not included in the index, but which BFA believes will help the ETF track the index. Also, the ETF may lend securities representing up to one-third of the value of the ETF’s total assets (including the value of the collateral received).

Tracking Error

The performance of the ETF and the index may vary due to a variety of factors, including differences between the securities and other instruments held in the ETF’s portfolio and those included in the index, pricing differences in transaction costs, the ETF’s holding of uninvested cash, differences in timing of the accrual of or the valuation of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the index or the costs to the ETF of complying with various new or existing regulatory requirements. Tracking error also may result because the ETF incurs fees and expenses, while the index does not. BFA expects that, over time, the ETF’s tracking error will not exceed 5%. The ETF’s use of a representative sampling indexing strategy can be expected to produce a larger tracking error than would result if the ETF used a replication indexing strategy in which an ETF invests in substantially all of the securities in its index in approximately the same proportions as in the index.

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As of August 31, 2018, iShares® reported the following average annual returns on the market price of the ETF’s shares and the index.  The market price of the ETF’s shares takes into account distributions on the shares and the returns shown account for changes in the mid-point of the bid and ask prices at 4:00 p.m., Eastern time on the relevant date.  ETF shares: 1 year, 25.31%; 3 years, 16.15%; 5 years, 13.04%; since inception, 8.77%; index: 1 year, 25.45%; 3 years, 16.11%; 5 years, 13.00%; since ETF inception, 8.85%.

Industry Concentration Policy

The ETF will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its total assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the index is concentrated.

The Russell 2000® Index

The index is sponsored by FTSE Russell (“Russell”) and measures the composite price performance of stocks of 2,000 companies in the U.S. equity market. It is generally considered to be a “small-cap” index.  Additional information about the index is available on the following website: ftse.com/analytics/factsheets/Home/Search#. We are not incorporating by reference the website or any material it includes in this pricing supplement.

As of August 27, 2018, 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 (14.97%), Consumer Staples (2.45%), Financial Services (25.00%), Health Care (15.57%), Materials & Processing (6.93%), Other Energy (4.61%), Producer Durables (13.58%), Technology (12.93%) and Utilities (3.96%).  (Sector designations are determined by the index 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.)

The index includes approximately 2,000 of the smallest securities that form the Russell 3000® Index. The Russell 3000® Index is comprised of the 3,000 largest U.S. companies, or 98% based on market capitalization, of the investable U.S. equity market. The index is designed to track the performance of the small capitalization segment of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF tracks the total return version of the index, in which dividends regular cash dividend are reinvested across the index on the dividend ex-date. Notwithstanding the ETF’s investment objective, the return on your notes will not reflect any dividends paid on the ETF shares, on the securities purchased by the ETF or on the securities that comprise the index.

Selection of Constituent Stocks of the Russell 2000® Index

The index is a sub-index of the Russell 3000® Index. To be eligible for inclusion in the Russell 3000® Index, and, consequently, the index, a company’s stocks must be listed on the rank day in May of a given year (the timetable is announced each spring) and Russell must have access to documentation verifying the company’s eligibility for inclusion. Eligible initial public offerings (“IPOs”) are added to Russell U.S. Indices quarterly, based on total market capitalization rankings within the market-adjusted capitalization breaks established during the most recent reconstitution. To be added to any Russell U.S. index during a quarter outside of reconstitution, IPOs must meet additional eligibility criteria.

A company is included in the U.S. equity markets and is eligible for inclusion in the Russell 3000® Index, and consequently, the index, if that company incorporates in the U.S., has its headquarters in the U.S. and also trades with the highest liquidity in the U.S.  If a company does not satisfy all of the above criteria, it can still be included in the U.S. equity market if any one of the following home country indicators is in the United States: (i) country of incorporation, (ii) country of headquarters and (iii) country in which the company trades with the highest liquidity (as defined by a two-year average daily dollar trading volume from all exchanges within the country), and the primary location of that company’s assets or its revenue, based on an average of two years of assets or revenues data, is also in the United States. In addition, if there is insufficient information to assign a company to the U.S. equity markets based on its assets or revenue, the company

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may nonetheless be assigned to the U.S. equity markets if the headquarters of the company is located in the United States or if the headquarters of the company is located in certain “benefit-driven incorporation countries”, or “BDIs”, and that company’s most liquid stock exchange is in the United States. The BDI countries are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Channel Islands, Cook Islands, Curaçao, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Panama, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Turks and Caicos Islands. A U.S.-listed company is not eligible for inclusion within the U.S. equity market if it has been classified by Russell as a China N share on the rank date of the index reconstitution. A company will be considered a China N share if the following criteria are satisfied: (i) the company is incorporated outside of the People’s Republic of China, (ii) the company is listed on the NYSE, the NASDAQ or the NYSE MKT, (iii) over 55% of the revenue or assets of the company are derived from the People’s Republic of China, and (iv) the company is controlled by a mainland Chinese entity, company or individual (if the shareholder background cannot be determined with publicly available information, Russell will consider whether the establishment and origin of the company are in mainland China and whether the company is headquartered in mainland China). ADRs and ADSs are not eligible for inclusion in the index.

In addition, all securities eligible for inclusion in the Russell 3000® Index, and consequently, the index, must trade on an eligible exchange (BATS, IEX, NYSE, NYSE MKT, NYSE Arca and NASDAQ).

Exclusions from the Russell 2000® Index

Russell specifically excludes the following companies and securities from the index: (i) preferred and convertible preferred stock, redeemable shares, participating preferred stock, warrants, rights, installment receipts and trust receipts; (ii) royalty trusts, U.S. limited liability companies, closed-end investment companies, companies that are required to report Acquired Fund Fees and  Expenses (as defined by the SEC), including business development companies, blank check companies, special-purpose acquisition companies and limited partnerships; (iii) companies with a total market capitalization less than $30 million; (iv) companies with only a small portion of their shares available in the marketplace (companies with 5% or less float); (v) bulletin board, pink sheets or over-the-counter traded securities, including securities for which prices are displayed on the FINRA ADF; (vi) real estate investment trusts and publicly traded partnerships that generate, or have historically generated, unrelated business taxable income and have not taken steps to block their unrelated business taxable income to equity holders; and (vii) companies with 5% or less of the company’s voting rights in the hands of unrestricted shareholders (existing constituents 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).

Initial List of Eligible Securities

The primary criterion Russell uses to determine the initial list of securities eligible for the Russell 3000® Index and, consequently, the index, is total market capitalization, which is calculated by multiplying the total outstanding shares for a company by the market price as of the rank day for those securities being considered at annual reconstitution.  IPOs may be added between constitutions as noted below.  All common stock share classes are combined in determining a company’s total shares outstanding. If multiple share classes have been combined, the number of total shares outstanding will be multiplied by the primary exchange close price and used to determine the company’s total market capitalization. In cases where the common stock share classes act independently of each other (e.g., tracking stocks), each class is considered for inclusion separately. Stocks must have a closing price at or above $1.00 on their primary exchange or an eligible secondary exchange on the last trading day of May of each year to be eligible for inclusion in the index. In order to reduce unnecessary turnover, if an existing member’s closing price is less than $1.00 on the rank day in May, it will be considered eligible if the average of the daily closing prices from their primary exchange during the 30 days prior to the rank day is equal to or greater than $1.00. If an existing member does not trade on the rank day, it must price at $1.00 or above on another eligible U.S. exchange to remain eligible.

Multiple Share Classes

If an eligible company trades under multiple share classes or if a company distributes shares of an additional share class to its existing shareholders through a mandatory corporate action, each share class will be reviewed independently for inclusion. Share classes in addition to the primary vehicle (the pricing

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vehicle) that have a total market capitalization larger than the smallest company in the Russell 3000ETM Index, an average daily dollar trading value that exceeds that of the global median, and a float greater than 5% of shares available in the market place are eligible for inclusion.

The pricing vehicle will generally be designated as the share class with the highest two-year trading volume as of the rank day. In the absence of two years’ worth of data, all available data will be used for this calculation.  If the difference between trading volumes for each share class is less than 20%, the share class with the most available shares outstanding will be used as the pricing vehicle.  At least 100 day trading volume is necessary to consider the class as a pricing vehicle for existing members.  New members will be analyzed on all available data, even if that data is for less than 100 days.

Annual Reconstitution

The index is reconstituted annually by Russell to reflect changes in the marketplace. The list of companies is ranked based on total market capitalization on the last trading day in May, with the actual reconstitution occurring on the final Friday of June each year, unless the final Friday in June is the 29th or 30th, in which case reconstitution will occur on the preceding Friday. A full calendar for reconstitution is made available each spring.

A company’s total shares are multiplied by the primary exchange close price of the pricing vehicle and used to determine the company’s total market capitalization for the purpose of ranking of companies and determination of index membership. If no volume exists on the primary exchange on the rank day, the last trade price from an eligible secondary exchange will be used where volume exists (using the lowest trade price above $1.00 if multiple secondary markets exist). The company’s rank will be determined based on the cumulative market capitalization. As of the June 2016 reconstitution, any share class not qualifying for eligibility independently will not be aggregated with the pricing vehicle within the available shares calculation.

For mergers and spin-offs that are effective between the rank day and the Friday prior to annual reconstitution in June, the market capitalizations of the impacted securities are recalculated and membership is reevaluated as of the effective date of the corporate action.  For corporate events that occur during the final week of reconstitution (during which reconstitution is finalized Friday after U.S. market close), market capitalizations and memberships will not be reevaluated. Non index members that have been considered ineligible as of rank day will not be reevaluated in the event of a subsequent corporate action that occurs between rank day and the reconstitution effective date.

Index Calculation and Capitalization Adjustments

As a capitalization-weighted index, the index reflects changes in the capitalization, or market value, of the index stocks relative to the capitalization on a base date. The current index value is the compounded result of the cumulative daily (or monthly) return percentages, where the starting value of the index is equal to the base value (100) and base date (December 31, 1978). Returns between any two dates can then be derived by dividing the ending period index value (IV1) by the beginning period (IV0) index value, so that the return equals [(IV1 / IV0) –1]*100. To calculate the total return version of the index, cash dividends are reinvested across the index on the dividend ex-date as described below under “Corporate Actions Affecting the Russell 2000® Index”.

Constituent stocks of the index are weighted in the index by their free-float market capitalization, which is calculated by multiplying the primary closing price by the number of free-float shares. Free-float shares are shares that are available to the public for purchase as determined by Russell. Adjustments to shares are reviewed quarterly (including at reconstitution) and for major corporate actions such as mergers.

The following are excluded from free float: shares directly owned by state, regional, municipal and local governments (excluding shares held by independently managed pension schemes for governments); shares held by sovereign wealth funds where each holding is 10% or greater of the total number of shares in issue; shares held by directors, senior executives and managers of the company, and by their family and direct relations, and by companies with which they are affiliated; shares held within employee share plans; shares held by public companies or by non-listed subsidiaries of public companies; shares held by

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founders, promoters, former directors, founding venture capital and private equity firms, private companies and individuals (including employees) where the holding is 10% or greater of the total number of shares in issue; all shares where the holder is subject to a lock-in clause (for the duration of that clause, after which free float changes resulting from the expiration of a lock-in clause will be implemented at the next quarterly review subsequent to there being a minimum of 20 business days between the expiration date of such lock-in clause and the Tuesday before the first Friday of the review month; if the previously locked-in shares are sold by way of a corporate event (such as a secondary offering), any change to the free float will be applied T+2 following completion and therefore will not be subject to the minimum 20 business day rule); shares held by an investor, investment company or an investment fund that is actively participating in the management of a company or is holding shares for publicly announced strategic reasons, or has successfully placed a current member to the board of directors of a company; and shares that are subject to ongoing contractual agreements (such as swaps) where they would ordinarily be treated as restricted. In addition, while portfolio holdings such as pension funds, insurance funds or investment companies will generally not be considered as restricted from free float, where a single portfolio holding is 30% or greater it will be regarded as strategic and therefore restricted (and will remain restricted until the holding falls below 30%).

Corporate Actions Affecting the Russell 2000® Index

Russell adjusts the index on a daily basis in response to certain corporate actions and events. Therefore, a company’s membership in the index and its weight in the index can be impacted by these corporate actions. The adjustment is applied based on sources of public information, including press releases and Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Prior to the completion of a corporate action or event, Russell estimates the effective date. Russell will then adjust the anticipated effective date based on public information until the date is considered final. Depending on the time on a given day that an action is determined to be final, Russell will generally either (1) apply the action before the open on the ex-date or (2) apply the action after providing appropriate notice. If Russell has confirmed the completion of a corporate action, scheduled to become effective subsequent to a rebalance, the event may be implemented in conjunction with the rebalance to limit turnover, provided appropriate notice can be given. Russell applies the following methodology guidelines when adjusting the index in response to corporate actions and events:

“No Replacement” Rule — Securities that are deleted from the index between reconstitution dates, for any reason (e.g., mergers, acquisitions or other similar corporate activity) are not replaced. Thus, the number of securities in the index over the past year will fluctuate according to corporate activity.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Adjustments due to mergers and acquisitions are applied to the index after the action is determined to be final. In the event that a constituent is being acquired for cash or is delisted subsequent to an index review, such constituent will be removed from the index in conjunction with the index review, assuming that the action is determined to be final and a minimum of two days’ notice can be provided.

Between constituents:  When mergers and acquisitions take place between companies that are both constituents of a Russell index for cash, the target company is deleted and shares of the acquiring stock are increased according to the offer terms. When mergers and acquisitions take place between companies that are both constituents of a Russell index for stock, the target company is deleted from the index at the last traded price.

Between a constituent and a non-constituent:  If the target company is a member of the index, it is deleted from the index and the acquiring company will be included initially in the index provided it is eligible in all other respects at the time of the merger, regardless of previous eligibility screenings. If the acquiring company is deemed eligible it will be added to the index on the effective date and the opening price will be calculated using the offer terms.

Given sufficient market hours after the confirmation of a merger or acquisition, Russell effects the action after the close on the last day of trading of the target company, or at an appropriate time once the transaction has been deemed to be final.

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Rights Offerings — Rights offered to shareholders are reflected in the index only if the subscription price of the rights is at a discount to the market price of the stock. Provided that Russell has been alerted to the rights offer prior to the ex-date, it will adjust the price of the stock for the value of the rights and increased shares according to the terms of the offering before the open on the ex-date.

Spin-offs— Spun-off companies are added to the parent company’s index if the parent company’s market value is reduced simultaneously per the spin-off valuation. Spun-off companies are added to the index at the same time as they are spun-off from their parent company on the ex-date of the distribution.

Initial Public Offerings — Eligible IPOs are added to the index based on total market capitalization ranking within the market-adjusted capitalization breaks established at the most recent annual reconstitution.

An IPO of additional share classes will be considered for eligibility and must meet the same eligibility criteria for all other multiple share classes.  If at the time of the IPO the additional share class does not meet the eligibility criteria for separate index membership, it will not be added to the index and will subsequently be reviewed for index membership during the next annual reconstitution.

Once IPO additions have been announced, an IPO may be added to the index prior to the previously announced schedule, if a corporate action has deemed this to be appropriate and notice can be provided (e.g. an index member automatically receives shares via a stock distribution into a projected IPO add).

Tender Offers — A company acquired as a result of a tender offer is removed when (i) (a) offer acceptances reach 90%; (b) shareholders have validly tendered and the shares have been irrevocably accepted for payment; and (c) all pertinent offer conditions have been reasonably met and the acquirer has not explicitly stated that it does not intend to acquire the remaining shares; (ii) where offer acceptances are below 90%, there is reason to believe that the remaining free float is under 5% based on information available at the time; or (iii) following completion of the offer the acquirer has stated intent to finalize the acquisition via a short-form merger, squeeze-out, top-up option or any other compulsory mechanism.

Where the conditions for index deletion are not met, Russell may implement a free float change based on the reported acceptance results at the expiration of the initial, subsequent or final offer period where (i) the minimum acceptance level as stipulated by the acquiror is met; (ii) shareholders have validly tendered and the shares have been irrevocably accepted for payment; (iii) all pertinent offer conditions have been reasonably met and (iv) the change to the current float factor is greater than 3%.  A minimum two day notice period of the change is generally provided. If the offer includes a stock consideration, the acquiring company’s shares will be increased proportionate to the free float change of the target company.  If the target company’s free float change is greater than 3%, the associated change to the acquiring company’s shares will be implemented regardless of size. Additionally, if the change to the target company is less than 3%, then no change will be implemented to the target or the acquiring company at the time of the event, regardless of any change to the acquiring company’s shares. The target company will then be deleted as a second-step, if the conditions for deletion are achieved at the expiration of a subsequent offer period.

Delisted and Suspended Stocks — A stock will be deleted as a constituent if it is delisted from all eligible exchanges, becomes bankrupt, files for bankruptcy protection, is insolvent or is liquidated, or where evidence of a change in circumstances makes it ineligible for index inclusion. If, however, a stock is suspended, Russell will determine its treatment as follows:

·                  if a constituent is declared bankrupt without any indication of compensation to shareholders, the last traded price will be adjusted to zero value and the constituent will be removed from the index with T+2 notice;

·                  in all other cases, a constituent will continue to be included in the index for a period of up to 20 business days at its last traded price;

·                  if a constituent continues to be suspended at the end of the 20 business day period, it will be subject to review and a decision will be taken to either allow the constituent to remain in the index for a further period of up to 20 business days or to remove it at zero value.  In making this

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determination, Russell will take into account the stated reasons for the suspension. These reasons may include announcements made by the company regarding a pending acquisition or restructuring, and any stated intentions regarding a date for the resumption of trading. This procedure will be repeated at successive 20 business day intervals thereafter until either trading recommences or the suspension period reaches 80 business days;

·                  if the suspension period reaches 80 business days, Russell will provide notice that the constituent will be removed at zero value following the expiry of at least 40 business days;

·                  in certain limited circumstances where the index weight of the constituent is significant and Russell determines that a market-related value can be established for the suspended constituent, for example because similar company securities continue to trade, deletion may take place at the market-related value instead. In such circumstances, Russell will set out its rationale for the proposed treatment of the constituent at the end of the 80 business day period;

·                  if, following the end of the 80 business day period, a suspended constituent resumes trading before the Wednesday before the first Friday of March, June, September or December, the deletion notice will be rescinded and the constituent will be retained in the index. If the constituent resumes trading after these dates but before the review effective date, the constituent will continue to be removed from the index as previously announced but in these circumstances the deletion may instead be implemented at market value; and

·                  if a constituent has been removed from the index and trading is subsequently restored, the constituent will only be re-considered for inclusion after a period of 12 months from its deletion. For the purposes of index eligibility it will be treated as a new issue.

Bankruptcy and Voluntary Liquidations — Companies that file for a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy or have filed a liquidation plan will be removed from the index at the time of the bankruptcy filing (except when shareholder approval is required to finalize the liquidation plan, in which case the company will be removed once shareholder approval has been granted); whereas companies filing for a Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy will remain a member of the index, unless the company is delisted from the primary exchange, in which case normal delisting rules apply. If a company files for bankruptcy, is delisted and it can be confirmed that it will not trade on any market, including OTC, Russell may remove the stock at a nominal price of $0.0001.

Stock Distributions and distributions in specie— A price adjustment for stock distributions is applied on the ex-date of the distribution. Where Russell is able to value a distribution in specie prior to the ex-date, a price adjustment is made to the company paying the dividend at the open on the ex-date.  If no valuation of the distribution exists prior to the ex-date, no price adjustment is applied.  Where the company whose holders are receiving the distribution is an index member, its shares will be increased according to the terms of the distribution.  If such company is not an index member, the distributed shares will be added to the index until they have been settled and have listed, at which point they will be removed at the last traded price giving appropriate notice.

Regular Cash Dividends — Regular cash dividends are those paid to shareholders out of a company’s profits or reserves. These cash dividends impact the total return of the index and are reinvested across the index on the dividend ex-date as part of the total return calculation of the index.

Special Cash Dividends — If a constituent pays out a special cash dividend, the price of the stock is adjusted to deduct the dividend amount before the open on the ex-date. However, special cash dividends are not included as part of the total return calculation of the index (i.e., special cash dividends are not reinvested across the index as regular cash dividends are).

Updates to Shares Outstanding and Free Float — Russell reviews the index quarterly for updates to shares outstanding and to free floats used in calculating the index. The changes are implemented quarterly in March, June, September and December after the close on the third Friday of such month. The June reconstitution will be implemented on the last Friday of June (unless the last Friday occurs on the 29th or 30th of the month, in which case reconstitution will occur on the Friday prior).

In March, September and December shares outstanding and free floats are updated to reflect (i) changes greater than 1% for cumulative shares in issue changes and (ii) changes greater than 3% for

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cumulative free float changes. In addition, a constituent with a free float of 15% or below will not be subject to the 3% change threshold and will instead be updated if the change is greater than 1%. Updates to shares outstanding and free floats will be implemented each June regardless of size (i.e., the percentage change thresholds above will not be applied). Russell implements the June updates using data sourced primarily from the companies’ publicly available information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Outside of the quarterly update cycle, outstanding shares and free float will be updated with at least two days’ notice if prompted by primary or secondary offerings if (i) there is a USD $1 billion investable market capitalization change related to a primary/secondary offering or (ii) there is a resultant 5% change in index shares related to a primary or secondary offering and a USD $250 million investable market capitalization change. These changes are implemented after the close on the day that the subscription period closes, assuming two days’ notice can be provided. If two days’ notice cannot be provided prior to the end of the subscription period, the change will still proceed with two days’ notice and will be implemented at the earliest opportunity. If discovery of the event occurs more than two days after the close of the subscription period, the changes are deferred until the quarterly review cycle.

If a company distributes shares of an additional share class to its existing shareholders through a mandatory corporate action, the additional share class will be evaluated for separate index membership. The new share class will be deemed eligible if the market capitalization of the distributed shares meets the minimum size requirement (the market capitalization of the smallest member of the Russell 3000E Index from the previous rebalance as adjusted for performance to date). If the additional share class is not eligible at the time of distribution, it will not be added to the index.

“iShares®” is a registered trademark of BlackRock Institutional Trust Company, N.A. (“BITC”). The Russell 2000® Index is not sponsored, endorsed, sold, or promoted by BITC. BITC makes no representations or warranties to the owners of the Russell 2000® Index or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in the Russell 2000® Index. BITC has no obligation or liability in connection with the operation, marketing, trading or sale of the Russell 2000® Index.

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Historical Closing Levels of the Basket Underliers

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

You should not take the historical levels of the basket or the basket underliers as an indication of the future performances of the basket underliers.  We cannot give you any assurance that the future performance of the basket, basket underliers or the basket underlier stocks will result in your receiving an amount greater than 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 basket or the basket underliers.  Before investing in the offered notes, you should consult publicly available information to determine the level of the basket underliers between the date of this pricing supplement and the date of your purchase of the offered notes. The actual performance of the basket and the basket underliers 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 basket underlier from September 20, 2008 through September 20, 2018. We obtained the closing levels in the graphs below from Bloomberg Financial Services, without independent verification.

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Historical Basket Levels

The following graph is based on the basket closing level for the period from September 20, 2008 through September 20, 2018 assuming that the basket closing level was 100 on September 20, 2008. We derived the basket closing levels based on the method to calculate the basket closing level as described in this pricing supplement and on actual closing levels of the relevant basket underliers on the relevant date.  The basket closing level has been normalized such that its hypothetical level on September 20, 2008 was 100.  As noted in this pricing supplement, the initial basket level was set at 100 on the trade date.  The basket closing level can increase or decrease due to changes in the levels of the basket underliers.

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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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