PNB has not considered any exchangeable bond program

KUALA LUMPUR: Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) has clarified that it has neither approved nor considered any exchangeable bond programme for issuance to-date.

“We wish to further highlight that such existing or future borrowings, if undertaken, apply and will only apply to PNB's proprietary portfolio and do not involve its unit trust funds, which are segregated and distinct from the proprietary fund of PNB, the company.

“The operations and investments of the unit trust funds such as Amanah Saham Bumiputera and Amanah Saham Nasional are strictly regulated by the Securities Commission (SC) and under the rules of the SC, no unit trust fund manager, including PNB, is allowed to undertake any borrowings for the funds or encumber the assets under these funds for any purpose,” it said in a statement yesterday.

PNB issued the clarification in relation to a Bloomberg report on March 21, “Biggest Malaysia State Fund Weighs Debut Exchangeable Bond Sale”, which quoted unnamed sources as saying the fund manager was mulling the first sale of exchangeable bonds to raise funds for overseas investments.

“Accordingly, any speculation on this matter is unnecessary and concerns regarding the charging of our unit trust assets are unfounded.

“We wish to state that as the custodian to the wealth of millions of Malaysians, PNB is always guided by its mandate in all of the investment decisions that we make and is committed to the highest standards of probity and integrity,” it added.

PNB also said that it would always continue to assess and examine the various means and methods to raise capital for domestic and global investment activities, including debt instruments such as term loans, sukuk and exchangeable bonds.