Malaysia's 1MDB chief says fund to become shell company after rationalisation

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's debt-ridden state fund 1Malaysia Developmnent Berhad (1MDB) will become a shell company once its rationalisation plan is fully implemented, according to its president Arul Kanda, state-run news agency Bernama reported.

"Based on the rationalisation plan and Public Accounts Committee's suggestion that its subsidiaries are removed (from under the company's control), 1MDB will be a shell company," Mr Arul was quoted on Thursday as saying. "There will be no daily operation and 1MDB will serve its debts through cash flow derived from the rationalisation plan."

A Malaysian parliamentary inquiry into the debt laden state fund said on Thursday the board of 1MDB had failed to carry out its responsibilities and its former chief, Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, must be further investigated.

It added that senior management at 1MDB withheld crucial information from the board and made transactions without its knowledge or approval.

Reuters reported last March that 1MDB would be left as a skeletal structure and dissolved under a debt repayment plan, in which most of its assets will be sold.

REUTERS