Malaysia

Opening statements are expected to take place today in the U.S. corruption trial of a former Goldman Sachs banker charged with helping to launder hundreds of millions of dollars looted from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, Reuters reported. Roger Ng, Goldman's former head of investment banking in Malaysia, stands accused of conspiring to launder money and to violate an anti-bribery law. He has pleaded not guilty and Ng's lawyer has called him a "fall guy" for one of the biggest financial scandals in Wall Street history. The trial in Brooklyn federal court could last up to six weeks.

A former Goldman Sachs banker charged with helping to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund will go on trial in the United States next week, in a case that could shed light on how the bank responded to warnings of corruption, Reuters reported. Roger Ng, Goldman's former investment banking chief in Malaysia, will be the first - and likely only - person to stand trial in the United States over one of the biggest financial scandals in Wall Street history.

Jury selection is expected to begin on Monday in the U.S. corruption trial of a former Goldman Sachs banker accused of involvement in the looting of billions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, Reuters reported. Roger Ng, Goldman's former head of investment banking in Malaysia, has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to violate an anti-bribery law and launder money in connection with the alleged looting of billions of dollars from the fund.

Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said on Friday (Jan 14) that Malaysia recorded an "alarming" drop of 53.6% in the number of commercial cases to 55,305 in 2021 from 119,258 in 2017 as insolvency and bankruptcy cases fell, TheEdgeMarkets.com reported. Speaking at the Opening of the Legal Year event here on Friday (Jan 14), Tengku Maimun said commercial cases are of significance as an indicator of the country's economy, as such disputes represent some measure of active business and trade. “This is an alarming drop of about 53.6% over a short period of five years.

Germany is blaming the collapse of a shipyard business on its Malaysia-based owner Genting Group, saying the conglomerate refused to contribute to a government bailout plan, the Associated Press reported. The MV Werften shipyard in northeastern Germany, which Genting bought in 2016, filed for bankruptcy protection Monday after getting into financial difficulties over the construction of a massive cruise liner. The German government had earlier said it was willing to discuss a 600 million-euro ($678 million) bailout plan that would protect 1,900 jobs.

A Malaysian court has approved a restructuring scheme for budget long-haul carrier AirAsia X Bhd that will pay just 0.5% of debt owed and end existing contracts, the airline said in a Thursday filing, Reuters reported. The High Court of Malaya granted a sanction order at a hearing on Thursday and “the proposed debt restructuring will take effect upon lodgement of the sanction order with the Registrar of Companies of Malaysia,” the filing said. Last month, AirAsia X’s creditors agreed to the scheme to restructure 33.65 billion ringgit ($8 billion) of liabilities.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has urged banks to continue to help borrowers who face financial difficulties, address their repayment issues as well as postpone legal action on errant borrowers, the New Straits Times reported. He said that borrowers who need help should contact their respective banks to discuss the appropriate restructure or rescheduling of debt repayments. He said the government welcomed efforts by the banking sector to continue supporting and helping borrowers by restructuring their debts.

More than 11,000 people were declared bankrupt in Malaysia since the pandemic struck in March 2020, the New Straits Times reported. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department(Parliament & Law), Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told the Dewan Rakyat that the Insolvency Department recorded 11,207 cases of bankruptcy between March 2020 and October 2021. He said that there were 6,344 cases recorded between March to Dec 2020 and 4,863 cases recorded between Jan to Sept 2021.

While Covid-19 killed millions of people around the globe, deaths at STMicro’s facility in the Malaysian district of Muar were substantially higher than averages in the rest of the country and the world. One in 1,100 people in Malaysia died from the virus since the start of the pandemic, according to the country’s Ministry of Health, while it was at least one in 210 at the plant, according to Bloomberg News reporting. STMicro declined to comment on the specific number of workers who died at the Muar location.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak lost an appeal against his conviction last year on charges related to his role in one of the world’s largest financial scandals, dealing a setback to the disgraced ex-leader amid a resurgence of his political clout, the Wall Street Journal reported. Malaysia’s appellate court struck down the appeal on Wednesday, upholding Mr. Najib’s conviction last year on all seven of the charges in question, including abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust.