IFR Asia – December 08, 2018

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Jho Low hit

with fresh

1MDB charges

-ALAYSIANûPOLICEûlLEDûFRESHûCRIMINALû
charges and issued arrest warrants
FORûFUGITIVEûlNANCIERû,OWû4AEKû*HOû
and four others wanted in connection
with the 1MDBûSCANDAL ûOFlCIALSûSAIDûLASTû
Wednesday.
Low, popularly known as Jho Low,
HASûBEENûIDENTIlEDûBYû-ALAYSIANûANDû53û
INVESTIGATORSûASûAûCENTRALûlGUREûINûTHEû
alleged theft of about US$4.5bn from
1MDB.
Last month, US prosecutors charged Low
and two former Goldman Sachs bankers
with conspiracy to launder 1MDB money
and conspiracy to violate the Foreign

Corrupt Practices Act.

,ASTû4UESDAYû,OWûANDûFOURûOTHERSûWEREû

charged with 13 money laundering and

criminal breach of trust offences involving

losses of 1MDB funds totaling US$1.17bn

or M$4.2bn, based on foreign exchange

rates at the time of the offence, Malaysian

police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a

statement.

Arrest warrants were issued against the

lVEûWHOûHAVEûLEFTû-ALAYSIAû-OHAMADû&UZIû

said.

,OWûWASûCHARGEDûWITHûlVEûCOUNTSûOFû

money laundering involving transfers

totalling US$1.03bn into a Swiss bank

account between September 30 2009 and

October 25 2011.

!LONGûWITHûHISûAIDEû%RICû4ANû+IMû,OONGû

Low faces two more money laundering

charges for receiving US$126m in a

Singapore-based bank account, Mohamad

Fuzi said.

4HEûNEWûCHARGESûAREûINûADDITIONûTOûEIGHTû

COUNTSûOFûMONEYûLAUNDERINGûALREADYûlLEDû

against Low in August.

A spokesman for Low said the latest

CHARGESûWEREûAûCONTINUATIONûOFûhTRIAL

BY

media”.

h!SûHASûBEENûPREVIOUSLYûSTATEDû-Rû,OWû

will not submit to any jurisdiction where

guilt has been predetermined by politics

and there is no independent legal process,”

the spokesman said in a statement.

Also charged were 1MDB’s former

general counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, its

former business development director

#ASEYû4ANGû+ENGû#HEEûANDûFORMERûlNANCEû

EXECUTIVEûDIRECTORû4ERENCEû'EHû#HOHû

Heng.

Unlike Low, who has said he is innocent,

4ANûANDûTHEûTHREEûOTHERSûCHARGEDûHAVEûNOTû

made any comment about the 1MDB case.

4HEIRûWHEREABOUTSûAREûALSOûUNKNOWN

ROZANNA LATIFF

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„ HSBC chairman

Mark Tucker will

become non-

executive chairman

of South Africa-based

Discovery Group in

March 2019, the two

companies said last

Thursday.

Discovery operates

a banking app that

promises to reward

customers financially

for healthier

behaviour, with better

interest rates and

discounts on gym

memberships.

Tucker, who joined

HSBC in October last

year from AIA Group,

will perform his

duties at Discovery in

addition to his role as

chairman of Europe’s

biggest bank.

„ SBM BANK INDIA,

a subsidiary of

Mauritius banking

group SBM Holdings,

has appointed

veteran Axis Bank

executive Sidharth

Rath as managing

director and chief

executive officer.

Rath joins the bank,

which was the first to

receive approval from

the Reserve Bank of

India to offer banking

services in India

thorugh the wholly

owned subsidiary

model, after 17 years

with Axis including

most recently as

head of corporate,

transaction banking

and international

banking.

HSBC appoints

Guangdong

co-CEOs

HSBC has appointed Neo Wang and Rannie
Lee as co-chief executives for Guangdong
as the UK lender steps up its efforts in the
Pearl River Delta region.
Wang, who is head of Guangdong
commercial banking, and Lee, who is
in charge of retail banking and wealth
management for the Pearl River Delta
region, report to David Liao, president and
CEO of HSBC China, in their new roles.
Both will retain their existing positions.

Wang joined HSBC in 2004 and has

over 15 years of corporate banking

experience in mainland China. He was

appointed to his current role of head of

Guangdong commercial banking three

years ago.

Lee joined HSBC in 1997 and has

more than 20 years experience in retail

banking. She was appointed to her

current role as head of retail banking and

wealth management for the Pearl River

Delta in September. Prior to that, she was

head of customer value management in

Hong Kong for seven years.

HSBC has staked a lot of its growth

plans on increasing revenues from the fast-

growing Pearl River Delta. Last December,

ITûBECAMEûTHEûlRSTûINTERNATIONALûBANKû

to launch a Sino-foreign securities

joint venture where it holds a majority

stake. Europe’s biggest bank previously

announced that its investment in the

region would include hiring 4,000 staff.

In June, chief executive John Flint

OUTLINEDûPLANSûINûHISûlRSTûSTRATEGYûUPDATEû

since taking the helm in February to

more than double revenues from the

Pearl River Delta to about US$500m by

2020 from US$220m last year.

But the previous medium-term goal

TOûMAKEû53BNûINûPROlTûFROMûTHEû

region became a goal to make US$1bn in

revenues instead as he acknowledged that

the bank was underperforming earlier

optimistic growth forecasts.

THOMAS BLOTT