People have right to answers about 1MDB probe, says Bank Negara governor

Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz says the public deserves answers to probes into 1MDB. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, September 21, 2015.The public has the right to know about the findings of investigations into state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz said today.

Expressing confidence that those involved in wrongdoing at the debt-ridden firm would be brought to justice, she said the ongoing probes would eventually yield an outcome.

"Right now, we know that the public wants answers to these questions, and they deserve to get the answers," Zeti said at a dialogue session on the Malaysian economy, organised by government performance and delivery management unit, Pemandu, in Kuala Lumpur today.

"All these investigations are ongoing, and they're going to yield an outcome. For BNM, we've looked at contraventions to approvals we gave specifically to 1MDB and these investigations are completed and handed over to AGC," she added, referring to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

The central bank's role in ongoing probes related to 1MDB is to focus on financial transactions.

Zeti also told the dialogue session today that the international community was working to deal with money laundering and that new approaches to dealing with the issue will be taken soon.

"The international community has also come together, [with] the FATF (Financial Action Task Force), to deal with issue of anti-money laundering.

"You will see actions taken by the international community after events related to terrorist financing.

“They set the standards and they have been strengthened immensely these past few years, they will come to every country to asesss if we implement and enforce these standards."

Zeti added that Malaysia was in good standing when it came to enforcement against money laundering, although there was room for improvement.

"Malaysia already had an assessment and we came out quite well, but they would like to see further enforcement taking place

"In this day and age, it must be known that there is no place on this planet that anyone can hide."

- TMI