KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)’s asset transfer to the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc) will likely be completed by mid-June, says Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.
He said the company would thereafter become a shell company to manage liabilities and bonds it has issued.
“The ministry has also decided that 1MDB is no longer allowed to make borrowings from any institution and has to serve its liabilities and manage bonds through whatever means,” Johari told reporters at the Parliament lobby here today.
He also said the value of the transferred assets were expected to increase and was sufficient to cover all of 1MDB’s liabilities including it bond commitment.
On the closure of the BSI Bank Ltd (BSI Bank)’s operations in Singapore, Johari said it would not have any impact on 1MDB’s operations.
“1MDB does not have much dealings with them (BSI Bank),” he added.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced on Tuesday that it has ordered the closure of Switzerland’s BSI Bank in Singapore.
A notice of intention was served to the bank to withdraw its status as a merchant bank in Singapore over serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements, poor management oversight of the bank’s operations and gross misconduct by some bank staff.
Earlier, it was reported that Switzerland’s financial regulators had agreed to the takeover and dissolution of BSI Bank, implicated in investigations of the government’s strategic investment arm, 1MDB.
1MDB clarified that it had not been contacted by any foreign lawful authority on matters relating to the company but confirmed that its ownership of various fund investments had not been impacted by the announcements. -BERNAMA