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Malaysian PM Najib Razak strengthens hold on power

Greg Lopez
The Interpreter
26 May 2016

Najib Razak’s term as prime minister of Malaysia is now in its seventh year and there is every reason to believe he will continue to lead Malaysia for a long while yet.

Given his scandal-ridden tenure, this is a remarkable outlook, one enabled by the sidelining of opponents, an illiberal electoral system, a divided opposition, and civil leadership that took a wrong turn.

As unlikely as it seemed when the The Wall Street Journal reported investigations of corruption and malfeasance on a massive scale related to investment fund 1MDB, Najib, through the power of incumbency, has gone from strength to strength while his detractors have lost momentum.

Even if Najib wanted to resign he could not. Unlike former prime ministers, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Mahathir Mohamed, who were forced to quit by their party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the corruption allegations and supporting evidence against Najib are too serious, substantive and too public (everyone knows about them). A face-saving exit strategy could not be designed without compromising its designers. Continue reading “Malaysian PM Najib Razak strengthens hold on power”

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Singapore shows spine in bank shutdown

Andy Mukherjee
Blooomberg
Singapore Today
May 26, 2016

The adjectives marshalled most often by bankers to describe Singapore’s regulator used to be “pragmatic” and “business-friendly”. To those, a third probably just got added: “No-nonsense”.

By asking BSI Bank to shut its operations in the city-state, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has scored at least two goals and created one group of winners.

Take the achievements. First, the MAS has given itself a leg up over regulators in the United States, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Malaysia, which are also investigating a multibillion-dollar financial scandal surrounding 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the troubled Malaysian state fund whose advisory board has been headed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. (Mr Najib has rejected allegations that he profited from state funds, and 1MDB has denied any wrongdoing.)

While the Swiss Attorney General’s office is just getting around to starting criminal proceedings against BSI, Singapore has sent the bank packing. Continue reading “Singapore shows spine in bank shutdown”

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Malaysia Whispers Sow Doubts on Najib’s Ability to Win Votes

Shamim Adam
Bloomberg
May 26, 2016

At the 70th anniversary gala for Malaysia’s ruling party this month, Prime Minister Najib Razak raised the party flag on stage as senior leaders cheered him and sang the group’s anthem of unity and loyalty. In the halls outside the venue, the chatter was less upbeat.

Even as party leaders publicly pledge support, some have privately expressed frustration over the scandal-hit premier — and concern that if they say too much they could be ostracized. In the past year, Najib has removed his most vocal opponents from the party and government machinery. While that means he is unlikely to face a challenge soon, the risk may grow as the next election, due by end-2018, draws near.

At stake is the unbroken rule since independence in 1957 of the United Malays National Organisation, the biggest actor in one of the longest-ruling coalitions in the world. Ethnic Malays are the bulwark of that coalition, and Najib needs to keep them onside. UMNO leaders are also keeping a close eye on rank and file supporters for signs of disquiet, even as opposition parties remain weak and in some cases fractured. Continue reading “Malaysia Whispers Sow Doubts on Najib’s Ability to Win Votes”

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Special Task Force on 1MDB should be resurrected and representatives from Bank Negara, MACC, Police, AG’s Chambers as well as PAC should be sent to Singapore and Switzerland to learn how they could detect 1MDB money-laundering and corrupt practices running into billions of ringgit but which had escaped Malaysian authorities

The end game of Malaysia’s first global financial scandal, the RM50-55 billion 1MDB scandal (which incorporates the RM4.2 billion “donation” scandal) has started with the two-pronged crackdown in Singapore and Switzerland – the closure of the Singapore branch of BSI and the reference of the “top six” of BSI Singapore to the Singapore prosecutor for possible criminal offences and in Switzerland, the commencement of criminal proceedings against the bank by the Swiss authorities over “money laundering and corruption” offences relating to suspected embezzlement of US$4 billion from 1MDB and the liquidation of the 143-year-old Swiss bank.

In Malaysia, the Special Task Force into 1MDB, which had comprised the Bank Negara, the MACC, the Police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers should be resurrected and send representatives, together with representatives from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), to Singapore and Switzerland to learn how the investigative and enforcement authorities in these two countries could detect 1MDB money-laundering and corruption running into billions of ringgit but which had escaped multiple and intensive investigations by Malaysian authorities?

It is a supreme insult and blow to the credibility, capability, professionalism, integrity and authority of the Malaysian investigative and enforcement authorities that the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) could order the closure of the private Swiss Bank BSI for failing to adequately monitor 1MDB funds to prevent money laundering and corrupt practices but its Malaysian counterparts are blissfully ignorant of such serious money-laundering malpractices. Continue reading “Special Task Force on 1MDB should be resurrected and representatives from Bank Negara, MACC, Police, AG’s Chambers as well as PAC should be sent to Singapore and Switzerland to learn how they could detect 1MDB money-laundering and corrupt practices running into billions of ringgit but which had escaped Malaysian authorities”

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Why is Tunisia’s Ennahda ditching political Islam?

Larbi Sadiki
Aljazeera
25th May 2016

Several months of internal debates have come to full fruition for the reformists within the party.

Tunis – Is Tunisia’s Ennahda party renouncing ‘Islamism’, its doctrinaire sine qua non and the basis of its foundational identity?

Over a three-day congress, the party’s first since 2012, members discussed the question through heated but pluralist debates. Ennahda, a movement that emerged in the late 1970s as a national political party with an Islamic frame of reference, is now committing to separate the religious (al-da’awi ) from the political (al-siyasi).

A vision that was upheld for more than three decades has ceded to a new brand of civic Islamism. That is, by analogy, a neo-Ennahda has not only edged closer to the notion of a civil state, but also to Turkey’s ruling AK Party and further from Egypt’s standard Muslim Brotherhood or “Ikhwani” model: The former operates politics with minimum ideology, the latter has historically harboured ambitions of Islamising polity. Continue reading “Why is Tunisia’s Ennahda ditching political Islam?”

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Did Puad Zakarshi tell a lie to Malay students in Canberra about the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts?

Did the Director-General of Department of Special Affairs (Jasa), Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi tell a lie to Malay students in Canberra during his “ Veracity Tour” in Australia about the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal banking account?

This question immediately comes to mind after the Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz made a revealing admission today that the UMNO Supreme Council was never informed about the RM2.6 billion “donation” deposited into Najib’s personal banking accounts, which tallied with what the UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had been saying since his removal as Deputy Prime Minister in July last year.

This is what Nazri said today:

“He (Najib) never told us (UMNO supreme council). He didn’t have to tell us. He just have to get approval from Bank Negara, that’s all.” (Malaysiakini)

What Puad said in Canberra clearly contradicted what Nazri said today. Continue reading “Did Puad Zakarshi tell a lie to Malay students in Canberra about the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts?”

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Has the end-game however protracted of the nation’s first global financial scandal – RM50-55 billion 1MDB scandal – begun with the two-pronged crackdown by the Swiss and Singapore authorities?

Has the end-game, however protracted, of the nation’s first global financial scandal – the RM50-55 billion 1MDB scandal – begun with the two-pronged crackdown by the
Swiss and Singapore authorities yesterday?

The two-pronged crackdown involved the closure of the Singapore branch of BSI, the commencement of criminal proceedings against the bank by the Swiss authorities over “money laundering and corruption” offences relating to suspected embezzlement of US$4 billion from 1MDB and the liquidation of the 143-year-old Swiss bank.

In Malaysia, however, all that the government investment arm 1MDB could say in a statement is that “it had not been contacted by any foreign lawful authority on matters relating to the company”.

Nothing could be more surreal than this response from 1MDB – suggesting that while over half a dozen countries are not only investigating, but beginning to commence criminal proceedings, against institutions and individuals for money laundering and embezzlement of 1MDB funds of at least US$4 billion, 1MDB as the company directly involved, is claiming that there had been no such embezzlement at all!

1MDB is creating world history as a company which is the subject of investigation by half a dozen foreign countries involving multi-billion ringgit money-laundering and global corruption but which is strenuously denied by both the company and its government.

Has there been any such a case, where a company is being investigated for multi-billion ringgit money laundering and global corruption by half a dozen foreign countries, but which is strenuously denied by the company affected and its government?

On this score, we must be the first in the world. Continue reading “Has the end-game however protracted of the nation’s first global financial scandal – RM50-55 billion 1MDB scandal – begun with the two-pronged crackdown by the Swiss and Singapore authorities?”

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Singapore kicks out Swiss bank linked to Malaysia’s 1MDB

The Nation
Thailand
May 25, 2016

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s central bank on Tuesday said it was kicking out Switzerland’s BSI Bank, which has been linked to a global money-laundering scandal that has embroiled neighbouring Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak.

In the toughest legal action so far in the crisis rocking Malaysian state fund 1MDB, Switzerland also disclosed it had launched criminal proceedings against the parent firm BSI SA for “deficiencies” in its internal organisation.

“BSI Bank is the worst case of control lapses and gross misconduct that we have seen in the Singapore financial sector,” Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said in a statement.

MAS said it had asked state prosecutors to investigate six senior executives of BSI Bank for possible criminal offences and fined it Sg$ 13.3 million ($9.6 million) for 41 breaches of Singapore’s laws against money laundering. Continue reading “Singapore kicks out Swiss bank linked to Malaysia’s 1MDB”

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Malaysia’s 1MDB Web And The 143-Year-Old Swiss Bank It Ensnared

Shamim Adam and Andrea Tan
Bloomberg
May 24, 2016

Global probes related to a troubled Malaysian state fund have enmeshed the biggest casualty to date: a 143-year-old Swiss bank.

Singapore ordered BSI SA’s unit in the city state to shut down as Swiss authorities began criminal proceedings against the bank. Here’s the state of play.

How are 1MDB and BSI connected?
 Continue reading “Malaysia’s 1MDB Web And The 143-Year-Old Swiss Bank It Ensnared”

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Malaysia 1MDB scandal: Swiss regulator approves BSI takeover by EFG but imposes conditions

By Rachel Middleton
International Business Times
May 25, 2016

Private Swiss bank BSI, which has been ordered to close its operations in Singapore, has been slammed by its own regulator for failing to adequately monitor its relationship with Malaysian sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad. Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, FINMA, accused the bank of committing “serious breaches of money laundering regulations” and “fit and proper” requirements.

In a statement dated 24 May, FINMA said the bank “executed numerous large transactions with unclear purpose over a period of several years and, despite clearly suspicious indications, did not clarify the background to these transactions.”

Following its investigations, FINMA has now approved the takeover of BSI by EFG International with the condition that BSI will be “integrated and thereafter dissolved with 12 months”. As part of its conditions, none of the BSI top management “responsible for the misconduct” will be allowed to take up leadership positions at EFG, the statement said. Continue reading “Malaysia 1MDB scandal: Swiss regulator approves BSI takeover by EFG but imposes conditions”

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Q&A: How scandal in Malaysia hit a Swiss private bank

Michael Peel, Bangkok regional correspondent
Financial Times
May 24, 2016

Regulators in Europe and Asia have cracked down on BSI, the Swiss private bank, over alleged money-laundering failings related to the scandal over Malaysia’s 1MDB state investment fund. Claims that billions of dollars have been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies have spawned probes on several continents. BSI is now under criminal investigation in its home country and has been ordered to shut down in Singapore. It has been fined S$13.3m in Singapore and forced to disgorge profits of SFr95m in Switzerland. Here are a few questions raised by Tuesday’s events.

1. What was BSI’s relationship with 1MDB? Continue reading “Q&A: How scandal in Malaysia hit a Swiss private bank”

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Swiss bank to be shut over Malaysia scandal

Geir Moulson and Jamey Keaten
Associated Press
USA Today
May 24, 2016

GENEVA – A Swiss private bank will face criminal proceedings and be liquidated after allegedly committing serious breaches of anti-money laundering regulations in connection with the suspected embezzlement of a Malaysian state investment fund.

Switzerland’s market supervisor indicated Tuesday that BSI SA helped transfer money to the Alpine country connected to the Malaysian fund called 1MDB. Investigations so far into 1MDB have indicated that $4 billion earmarked for development projects in Malaysia may have been misappropriated from state-owned companies.

The Swiss market supervisor, FINMA, said that in the 1MDB case, BSI “executed numerous large transactions with unclear purpose over a period of several years and, despite clearly suspicious indications, did not clarify the background to these transactions.” Continue reading “Swiss bank to be shut over Malaysia scandal”

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Swiss Open Criminal Proceedings Against BSI Over Malaysia Fund Allegations

By NICK CUMMING-BRUCE
New York Times
MAY 24, 2016

GENEVA — The authorities in Switzerland said on Tuesday that they had begun criminal proceedings against one of the country’s oldest banks, BSI, after allegations that it had laundered huge sums for “politically exposed” individuals linked to a scandal-plagued Malaysian state investment fund.

The Swiss attorney general’s office said in a statement that it suspected “deficiencies in the internal organization of the BSI S.A. bank” and believed “that due to these deficiencies, the bank was unable to prevent the commission of offenses currently under investigation in the criminal proceedings relating to” the investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

The prosecution arose from an investigation that Switzerland started last year into suspected misappropriation of billions of dollars from the Malaysian fund, also known as 1MDB, and that it has pursued in cooperation with the authorities in Luxembourg, Singapore and the United States. Continue reading “Swiss Open Criminal Proceedings Against BSI Over Malaysia Fund Allegations”

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1MDB financial scandal – the global noose is closing in while at home the Ministers are in sixes and sevens trying to defend the indefensible

Three international developments today are harbingers of the global noose of the 1MDB scandal that is closing in, viz:

• The withdrawal of the BSI Bank’s status as a merchant bank in the city state by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for “serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements, poor management oversight of the bank’s operations and gross misconduct by some of the bank’s staff” and the reference of six members of the BSI Bank’s senior management and staff to the public prosecutor – after investigations into the 1MDB scandal in Singapore.

• Commencement of criminal proceedings by Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General (OAG) against BSI SA Bank for allegedly failing to prevent offences linked to 1MDB, including offences of money laundering and bribery of foreign public officials. Swiss authorities believe at least RM4 billion in Malaysian state fund had been misappropriated as part of their investigations into 1MDB scandal.

• Resignation with immediate effect of Swiss Bank BSI’s Group CEO Stefano Coduri following the announcement by the Money Authority of Singapore on the closure of its Singapore branch and criminal proceedings by the Swiss OAG in connection with their 1MDB investigations.

At home in Malaysia, however, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Ministers and minions are in sixes and sevens, indulging in sophistry, prevarication, obfuscation and downright evasion defending the indefensible instead of being true and frank about the RM50-55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion global financial scandals. Continue reading “1MDB financial scandal – the global noose is closing in while at home the Ministers are in sixes and sevens trying to defend the indefensible”

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Confidence wanes in Malaysia govt-backed 1MDB bonds

Straits Times
24th May 2016

SINGAPORE • The fortunes of bonds in Malaysia’s troubled investment fund 1MDB are diverging this month: Those guaranteed by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund have rallied, while notes with support from Malaysia’s own government have dropped.

Its 4.4 per cent 2023 notes, backed by a letter of support from Malaysia’s government, slumped 6.4 per cent in May, set for the worst slide in 16 months. The fund’s 5.99 per cent 2022 bonds, on which Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) paid interest earlier this month in its role as guarantor, gained 1.9 per cent, the most since at least September 2014.

The contrast reflects growing investor concern about the Malaysian government’s backing as it grapples with an economy forecast to expand at its slowest pace in seven years amid a collapse in oil prices. 1MDB is at the centre of multiple investigations from Switzerland to the US amid allegations of money laundering and embezzlement.

Even as the firm has consistently denied wrongdoing, it has brought negative attention to the government. Continue reading “Confidence wanes in Malaysia govt-backed 1MDB bonds”

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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Resurrected And Hitting Back?

Greg Lopez
Forbes
MAY 23, 2016

Malaysia’s embattled prime minister seems to be weathering the corruption allegations – and by some signs may even be going back on the offensive.

On Jul. 2, 2015, the Wall Street Journal “alleged” that $700 million had gone into the personal bank accounts of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

On Aug. 3, 2015, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) reported that the alleged $700 million deposited into Razak’s accounts came from donations, and not from the debt-laden 1MDB.

Many opined that he could not possibly survive this disclosure; with several suggesting that he was a “dead man walking”.

If Razak is likened to a pharaoh – a term given to Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister, Mahathir Mohamed, who is now the main protagonist in attempting to bring down Razak – one could say that the period between Jul. 2, 2015 and May 8, 2016 was a period where Razak was “mummified,” safe within the pyramid. Several defensive measures were later followed with the election triumph of the Barisan Nasional (the ruling coalition that the prime minister leads) in the Sarawak state election, suggesting that the “mummy” is now fully resurrected. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Prime Minister Resurrected And Hitting Back?”

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Time for Najib to speak up personally and state which version or versions about the source of the multi-billion ringgit deposits into his personal bank accounts was the true and correct one

Since the expose by Wall Street Journal in early July last year of the RM2.6 billion into Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal banking accounts, there have been numerous diverse and even conflicting versions about the source of the multi-billion ringgit deposits in Najib’s accounts, with the total figure expanding from RM2.6 billion to RM4.2 billion.

The latest and newest version about the source of the RM2.6 billion donation to Najib’s personal banking accounts came from the Director-General of Department of Special Affairs (Jasa), Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi in his speech in Canberra in his international “Veracity Tour” to “brainwash” Malay students overseas.

Puad told Malay students in Canberra that Najib had told UMNO leaders when the Wall Street Journal reported the expose in early July last year that he had “Bank Negara documents” to approve the transfer the money (RM2.6 billion) into his personal accounts and that he had discussed it with the Bank Negara governor.

According to Puad, Najib denied the money originated from 1MDB and told UMNO leaders that the money was from the Saudi King (Raja Saudi) to “combat the Islamic State, and secondly, to help in other places such as in Palestine and others”.

The other and sometimes conflicting versions of the source of the RM2.6 billion “donation” into Najib’s personal bank accounts include: Continue reading “Time for Najib to speak up personally and state which version or versions about the source of the multi-billion ringgit deposits into his personal bank accounts was the true and correct one”

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Tunisian Islamists Al Nahda move to separate politics, religion

Gulf News
Reuters
May 23, 2016

Unlike the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Al Nahda was able to survive in Tunisia despite initial conflict with secularists

Tunis: Tunisia’s Islamist party Al Nahda will separate its political and religious work, its chief said on Friday, moving away from its tradition of political Islam.

Al Nahda was the first Islamist party to come to power in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring revolutions and it took part in the first government coalition after the overthrow of Tunisia’s autocratic leader Zine Al Abedin Bin Ali.

It won the first post-uprising election by appealing to many Tunisians who saw its Islamist identity as an antidote to the years of corruption and repression under the Bin Ali government in one of the region’s most secular nations.

Free elections, a new constitution and a compromise politics between secular and Islamist parties have helped Tunisia avoid the turmoil seen in several other Arab nations.

“Al Nahda has changed from an ideological movement engaged in the struggle for identity, to a protest movement against the authoritarian regime, and now to a national democratic party,” Ghannouchi told supporters at a rally. “We must keep religion far from political struggles.” Continue reading “Tunisian Islamists Al Nahda move to separate politics, religion”

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Tunisia’s Nahda party ditches Islamist tag

Heba Saleh in Cairo
Financial Times
May 22, 2016

Tunisia’s Nahda party, a member of the governing coalition and the biggest force in parliament, has ditched its ‘Islamist’ label, saying it would end its religious activities and devote itself solely to politics.

The change, adopted in a vote by an overwhelming majority of delegates at a weekend party conference, is unprecedented in the region for an Islamist group. It also marks another milestone in the evolution of a once-repressed movement persecuted under the secular dictatorship of Zein al-Abidine Ben Ali but which staged a strong come back after the 2011 revolution.

Under the leadership of its founder, Rachid Ghannouchi, Nahda has demonstrated political flexibility by striking a historic bargain with influential secular groups. This prevented the democratic transition from unraveling and helped make Tunisia the only success story among Arab countries which staged uprisings in 2011.

Addressing the Nahda conference, held in a stadium and attended by 1,300 delegates, Mr Ghannouchi said: “Nahda has evolved from defending identity to ensuring the democratic transition, and today moves on to focus on the economic transition.”

He also said that religion would be kept apart from “political struggles” and mosques should be completely neutral and play no role in politics. Continue reading “Tunisia’s Nahda party ditches Islamist tag”

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Will PAC Chairman Hasan apologise for his several breaches of parliamentary privileges in connection with PAC Report on 1MDB and make amends by tabling in Parliament the Report of Auditor General on 1MDB as he had promised on 7th March and re-open investigations into 1MDB scandal?

Will the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin apologise for his several breaches of parliamentary privileges in connection with the PAC Report on 1MDB and make amends by tabling in Parliament the Report of the Auditor-General on 1MDB as he had promised on 7th March?

On 7th March 2016, Hasan gave a categorical statement that the Auditor-General’s final report on 1MDB investigations would be “declassified” under the Official Secrets Act 1972 once the PAC tables its report to Parliament.

The PAC Report on 1MDB was tabled in Parliament on April 7, and there are no signs that the Auditor-General’s final report on the 1MDB will be tabled in Parliament, which will adjourn on Thursday this week.

Hasan had said at the time that the Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang had explained that the Auditor-General’s final report on 1MDB will no longer be a classified document under OSA once PAC tables its 1MDB report.

Can Hasan explain why he is dragging his feet in tabling the Auditor-General’s final report on 1MDB as attachment to the PAC Report on 1MDB?

What has Hasan and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his government to hide in refusing to make public the Auditor-General’s final report on 1MDB? Continue reading “Will PAC Chairman Hasan apologise for his several breaches of parliamentary privileges in connection with PAC Report on 1MDB and make amends by tabling in Parliament the Report of Auditor General on 1MDB as he had promised on 7th March and re-open investigations into 1MDB scandal?”