MEDIA STATEMENT: 1MDB ANOTHER FAILURE
The failure of 1MDB to repay its RM2 billion loans owing to RHB and Maybank on time is very worrying. We wish to remind the government that the rakyat via the EPF, owns substantial stakes in both RHB (41%) and Maybank (14%). As such 1MDB should not be given special “national interest” treatment and all dealings by the banks must be transparent and above board. Due to the size of the loans, if 1MDB misses the new 30th January 2015 deadline, legal proceedings should immediately proceed. We urge Maybank and RHB to publicly commit to this tough position to safeguard the reputation of the banking sector.
We are also very worried about the damage this episode has on the expected March 2015 IPO of 1MDB Energy. It sends a very negative perception of the viability of the IPO when the parent company itself can’t get its financial act together.
We continue to urge 1MDB to immediately return the Cayman Island money and use that to pay off the RM2 billion debt.
YB Wong Chen
Member of Parliament for Kelana Jaya
7 January 2015