Published by The Edge Markets on 13 March 2017. By Chester Tay.
UK-based Parker Randall International, which replaced Deloitte Malaysia as auditor of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in January this year, has yet to decide whether to re-audit the troubled strategic development company's accounts for the financial years ended March 31, 2013 and 2014 (FY13 and FY14) that have been disavowed by Deloitte Malaysia, said the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
"Any decision on whether to re-audit 1MDB's audited financial statements again will be made after further discussions with the new auditor," MoF said in a written reply to a parliamentary question dated March 7 by Petaling Jaya Utara member of Parliament Tony Pua Kiam Wee.
MoF also said 1MDB has obtained extension from the Companies Commission of Malaysia until the end of this month to call for an annual general meeting to approve its financial statements for FY15 and FY16.
In July last year, 1MDB announced that Deloitte was resigning and the company was seeking a replacement, without giving a reason for the departure. It also said then that its audited financial statements for FY13 and FY14 shouldn't be relied on after US prosecutors said more than US$3.5 billion was misappropriated from the fund during a period that included those years.
Deloitte echoed that view, saying in a separate statement that if the information in the US complaint had been known during the FY13 and FY14 audits, it would have impacted the financial statements and audit reports Deloitte signed off on for those years.
Deloitte was 1MDB's third auditor after Ernst & Young, whose contract was terminated before the auditor could complete the audit on 1MDB's accounts for FY10, and KPMG — which handled 1MDB's statements for FY10, FY11 and FY12, but was terminated in December 2013.
Read more here: http://www.theedgemarkets.com/my/article/1mdb-auditor-yet-decide-re-audit-fy13-fy14-financial-statements#.WMY-zyRKqbc.twitter
Published by Channel News Asia on 13 March 2017.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Monday (Mar 13) issued a 10-year Prohibition Order (PO) against former Goldman Sachs director Tim Leissner for 1MDB-related breaches.
The local financial regulator said in its press release that it served notice of its intention to issue a PO against Mr Leissner last December, and invited him to submit written representation why it should not be done.
It said Mr Leissner was found to have issued in June 2015 an unauthorised letter to a financial institution based in Luxembourg, and to have made false statements on behalf of Goldman Sachs (Asia), without the firm’s knowledge.
Following careful consideration of the representations made by Mr Leissner and the relevant facts, MAS has decided to issue a PO, and the banker will be barred from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act, and taking part, directly or indirectly, in the management of any capital market services firm in Singapore for 10 years.
MAS has also served notice of its intention to issue POs against three others convicted for 1MDB-related matters.
These include former branch manager of Falcon Private Bank Jens Fred Sturzenegger and former BSI Bank employees Yak Yew Chee and Yvonne Seah Yew Foong.
Read more here: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/mas-bars-former-goldman-sachs-banker-from-trading-in-singapore/3590964.html?cid=twtcna
By Bradley Hope & Anatoly Kurmanaev. Published by WSJ on 15 March 2017.
While the Venezuela investigations are unrelated to continuing probes in six countries over 1MDB’s missing fortune, they focus on the decision by Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, to lease a ship that PetroSaudi financed with a portion of the funds in the joint venture with 1MDB.
The Justice Department says $700 million meant for the joint venture was instead diverted to a company called Good Star Ltd. in the Seychelles, which distributed money to several beneficiaries of the alleged fraud.
Part of the remaining $300 million was used by PetroSaudi to finance the purchase of the Neptune Discoverer drillship working in Venezuela in 2009, according to financial records and people familiar with the transaction. The rig was then rented to PdVSA.
PetroSaudi was founded in 2005 by a Saudi citizen, Tarek Obaid, and a member of the Saudi royal family, Turki Bin Abdullah Al Saud. The Discoverer and the subsequent purchase of the Songa Saturn drillship in 2010 were among the biggest investments PetroSaudi made and constituted a major part of the company’s operations.
