for Malaysia
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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”
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?”
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”
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?”
The Director-General of Department of Special Affairs (Jasa), Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi has let the cat out of the bag – that despite all the show and pretence put up by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that all the problems created by his twin mega scandals had been resolved, and that the country must move on, the nation’s leadership are still haunted and hounded by the 1MDB and “donation” global financial scandals and could not move on!
This is why the head of one of the propaganda units of government had to conduct a double-speak “Veracity Tour” to meet Malay students abroad to “explain current issues” – or to be more exact, a “brainwash tour” to mislead Malay students overseas about what is happening in the country.
This is why five months after Najib announced to the world that his twin mega scandals were “history” in his 2016 New Year Eve message, and a month after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on 1MDB, which only touched on the “tip of the iceberg” of the 1MDB scandal but which Najib hailed as vindication for his premiership, Puad had to embark on a world-wide “veracity tour” to “brainwash” Malay students because the credibility of Najib and his administration was hovering near the zero level!
Unfortunately, Puad is so used to hard and blatant propaganda among UMNO crowds, silenced and compromised by the distribution of various “goodies” at these brain-washing sessions, that he has lost the ability to discern the importance of showing greater finesse and discretion when dealing with more questioning minds among Malay students overseas.
This was why Puad could trot out such arrant nonsense about Najib’s twin mega scandals to Malay students in Canberra, claiming 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. Continue reading “Puad Zarkashi has let the cat out of the bag – the obsession of Najib and UMNO leaders about the 1MDB and “donation” scandals which have catapulted Malaysia to world’s top nations associated with global corruption”
Is the Malaysian Parliament one-sided and partial where Ministers and senior government leaders like Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman cannot be referred to the Committee of Privileges for lying and the Speaker only a “yes man” to such breaches of parliamentary privileges?
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman had committed a double contempt of Parliament when:
• firstly, she lied when replying to the DAP MP for Bagan Lim Guan Eng on Monday that PAC members were informed about the deleted lines from the PAC Report on 1MDB because of correspondence from Bank Negara on April 6 that its information was “confidential for the purpose of intelligence only and not for court usage or public report”; and
• secondly, when she defended her first lie with another lie by claiming that DAP MP for PJ Utara and PAC member Tony Pua’s statement that the PAC Chairman, Datuk Hasan Arifin had “never at any point of time communicated with PAC members on any developments subsequent to the meeting on April 4” before the PAC Report on 1MDB was presented to Parliament on April 7, 2016 was “untrue and without any basis”.
In their joint statement in Parliament on Thursday, the Deputy Chairman of PAC, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw (MP – Kepong) and the four opposition PAC members have confirmed that they had never been informed of any Bank Negara correspondence of April 6 before the tabling of the PAC Report on 1MDB on April 7.
The PAC Chairman Hasan Arifin has also committed a grave breach of parliamentary privilege in tampering with the PAC report on 1MDB. Continue reading “Is Malaysian Parliament one-sided and partial where Ministers and senior government leaders like PAC Chairman cannot be referred to Committee of Privileges for lying and the Speaker only a “yes men” to such breaches of parliamentary privileges?”
Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Ministers have been very busy indulging in sophistry, prevarication, obfuscation and downright evasion instead of being true and frank about the RM50-55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion global financial scandals.
It would be difficult to find a denser statement than the one made by the Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Salleh Said Keruak that the Wall Street Journal cannot convince Malaysians if it does not reveal the sources of its stories.
In fact, WSJ must thank Salleh for giving greater publicity to its latest report about Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz’s purchase of a RM137 million property in London is now part of the 1MDB probe by international investigators.
Salleh cannot be more wrong when he suggested that WSJ reports have no credibility unless they reveal the sources of its stories, as it is the Prime Minister and his ministers who have been haemorrhaging from a credibility crisis since the 1MDB global scandal burst on the global scene more than a year ago, till today there is considerable truth in the claim that “For foreign media, Malaysia now synonymous with kleptocracy”. Continue reading “Najib’s Ministers have been very busy indulging in sophistry, prevarication, obfuscation and downright evasion instead of being true and frank about the RM50-55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” global financial scandals”
The Business Times, Singapore
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
WITHIN the span of six years, 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) debt had ballooned 10 times to RM50 billion (S$17 billion) and its business deals are now the subject of probes in seven jurisdictions, including Singapore. Could the mammoth scandal around the state-backed fund have been averted?
The answer is “Yes”, given the events at the strategic investment firm from the outset, which ought to have set off alarm bells at various government agencies, regulatory authorities and financial institutions.
In fact, had there been vigilance and proper checks and balances in the first place, the 1MDB controversy could well have been nipped in the bud. Continue reading “Did regulatory slips ‘enable’ the 1MDB scandal?”
By SIMON CLARK, GEORGI KANTCHEV and BRADLEY HOPE
Wall Street Journal
May 19, 2016
Investigators believe that money from the Malaysian fund was used to buy home in 2012
The stepson of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak bought a £23.25 million ($33.6 million) house in central London in 2012 with money originating from the troubled Malaysian state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd., according to people familiar with the situation.
The redbrick four-story house, built around 1900, is part of a row set back from the road and protected by security gates, a short walk from Malaysia’s diplomatic mission in London’s exclusive Belgravia neighborhood. The registered owner of the house is Qentas Holdings Ltd., a company based in the British Virgin Islands. Mr. Najib’s stepson is the beneficial owner, the people familiar said.
Investigators believe that money from the Malaysian fund known as 1MDB was used to buy the house in July 2012. The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that Riza Aziz, a film producer and stepson of the Malaysian leader, used money that originated from 1MDB to buy $50 million worth of properties in New York and Los Angeles and to finance the 2013 movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Continue reading “Stepson of Malaysia’s Najib Razak Bought $34 Million London House With 1MDB Funds”
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman had committed a double contempt of Parliament when she defended her lie in Parliament in her reply to DAP MP for Bagan, Lim Guan Eng, claiming that Public Accounts Committee (PAC) members were informed about the deleted lines from the PAC Report on 1MDB.
In her written reply on Monday, Azalina had lied that PAC Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin had informed or showed PAC members letter from Bank Negara Malaysia which stated that the information provided to the PAC was confidential for the purpose of intelligence only and not for court usage or public consumption.
DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua, who is a PAC Member has described Azalina’s answer as a lie, making very clear that after the the final PAC meeting on April 4 which approved the PAC report on 1MDB for publication, Hasan “never at any point of time communicated with the PAC members on any developments subsequent to the meeting on April 4”.
I have spoken to the Deputy Chairman of PAC, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw (MP – Kepong) and he has confirmed that what Pua said was true and factual, and that PAC members were never informed about Bank Negara’s letter before PAC Report on 1MDB was tabled in Parliament on April 7, and that Azalina had told a lie in Parliament.
Thus, when Azalina yesterday denied that she lied to Parliament when she said PAC members had been informed about the deleted lines in the PAC report on 1MDB, and that Pua’s statement was untrue and made without any basis, Azalina had committed a double contempt of Parliament. Continue reading “Azalina has committed double contempt of Parliament when she defended her lie in Parliament in her reply to Guan Eng on the PAC Report on 1MDB”
Would the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman Said refer herself to the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges for lying in Parliament, or would there be an Acting Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department appointed to be in charge of parliamentary affairs to refer Azalina to the Committee of Privileges?
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member and DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua has made a very serious charge that Azalina had lied in replying to the DAP MP for Bagan Lim Guan Eng that PAC members were informed about the deleted lines from the PAC Report on 1MDB.
Pua said Azalina lied in Parliament when she said in her parliamentary reply on Monday that the PAC Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin had informed or showed PAC members letter from Bank Negara Malaysia which stated that the information provided to the PAC was confidential and not for public consumption.
Azalina had replied to Guan Eng that Hasan had received Bank Negara’s information which stated all the information given was “confidential for the purpose of intelligence only and not for court usage or public report” and that all PAC members were informed of the matter via a letter penned by the PAC chief to the deputy governor of the central bank on April 6.
I have received confirmation from the Deputy Chairman of PAC, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw (Kepong) that PAC members were never informed about the matter by the PAC Chairman on April 6 and that Azalina had told a lie in Parliament. Continue reading “Would Azalina refer herself to the Committee of Privileges for lying in Parliament or would there be an Acting Minister in the PM’s Department appointed to be in charge of parliamentary affairs to refer Azalina to Committee of Privileges?”
I have visited 130 parliamentary constituencies in the country in my nation-wide “Pantang Undur – Berani kerana Benar” nation-wide tour during my six-month suspension from Parliament in October last year.
Only three days ago, I visited Kuala Terengganu, Marang, Setiu and Besut in Terengganu and Pasir Puteh in Kelantan.
Wherever I went in the 130 Parliamentary constituencies in the past six months, Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region want the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razal to answer the two simple questions about his global financial scandal – where the money came from and where the money had gone to! Continue reading “Four ways for Najib and Parliament to redeem their abject failure to ensure responsibility and accountability for first global financial scandal in nation’s history”
This morning, I want to report to the voters of Gelang Patah that I have visited 130 parliamentary constituencies in the country during my six-month suspension from Parliament and I will return to Parliament tomorrow.
Only two days ago, I visited Kuala Terengganu, Marang, Setiu and Besut in Terengganu and Pasir Puteh in Kelantan.
Wherever I went in the 130 Parliamentary constituencies in the past six months, Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region want Najib to answer the two simple questions about his global financial scandal – where the money came from and where the money had gone to!
I apologise to the people of Gelang Patah for being suspended for six months from Parliament, not because I had stolen, robbed, murdered or guilty of corruption, but because I had wanted the Prime Minister to answer two simple questions about his global financial scandals – Where the money came from and where the money have gone to.
Six months later, Najib has not been able to answer these two simple questions, but his twin mega scandals have continue to mushroom to become ever more monstrous, with Malaysia topping the global charts as among the most corrupt nations in the world like the third place in international website, foreignpolicy.com’s ranking of the world’s “worst corruption scandal in 2015” at the end of last year, TIME magazine’s second ranking of “global corruption” in March or the Economist’s second placing in its second index of crony capitalism early this month.
Six months ago, we were talking about Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal and the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal – today, we are talking about Najib’s RM4.2 billion “donation” scandal and the RM50-55 billion 1MDB scandal! Continue reading “I have visited 130 parliamentary constituencies during my six-month suspension from Parliament and all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region want Najib to answer two simple questions about Najib’s global financial scandal – where the money came from and where the money had gone to!”
It has been reported that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be making a “working visit” to the United Kingdom from Sunday to May 18 to promote investment between the two countries.
It would appear that Najib’s overseas itinerary had been planned to enable him to avoid parliamentary responsibility and accountability with Parliament scheduled to reconvene on Monday.
Why is Najib absconding to UK when he should be in Parliament to give full and satisfactory accounting on the exploding 1MDB global financial scandal?
Why is Najib going away from the country when he should have given top priority to his attendance of Parliament among all his Prime Ministerial duties especially with the 1MDB scandal assuming such an explosive dimension? Continue reading “Why is Najib absconding to UK next week when he should be in Parliament to give full and satisfactory accounting on the exploding 1MDB global financial scandal?”