‘ARTICLE DEFAMATORY’

S’pore central bank lodges report on 1MDB article that it claims impugns its integrity

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has lodged a report against the author of a Nov 5 article published on www.statestimesreview.com, which it deems “false and malicious, and impugns the integrity of MAS as a financial regulator”.

The article, titled “Lee Hsien Loong becomes 1MDB’s key investigation target”, alleged that Malaysia signed several unfair agreements with Singapore in exchange for the republic’s banks’ assistance in laundering 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) funds.

“The article is baseless and defamatory,” MAS said.

“It ignores the unprecedented and robust actions taken by MAS over the last two years against Singapore-based banks and bankers in relation to their roles in 1MDB-related transactions, in most instances, ahead of enforcement actions by foreign jurisdictions.

“It also makes false allegations that Singapore was forced to reopen its investigations into 1MDB only after the change in political leadership in Malaysia,” said the central bank.

“Investigations into the 1MDB case were never closed,” said MAS.

At its Annual Report Press Conferences in 2016 and 2017, MAS made it clear that it would not hesitate to probe any new leads or evidence relating to 1MDB-related fund flows.

This was reiterated in a public statement jointly issued by MAS, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Singapore Police Force on June 8.

MAS said Singapore’s law enforcement and regulatory agencies were cooperating with their counterparts in Malaysia, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the United States during the tenure of the previous Malaysian government.

“MAS has placed utmost importance on safeguarding its integrity as a financial regulator, and takes seriously any false allegations to the contrary.”