Malaysia Morning News For December 18

Malaysia Files Criminal Charges Against Goldman Sachs Over 1MDB Scandal
Malaysia filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs on Monday, accusing the giant Wall Street bank of making false and misleading statements.
— New York Times

Malaysia sees rise in cost of living survey
A survey on the global cost of living for expatriate workers shows that Malaysian cities have gone up the rankings, with Kuala Lumpur rising 24 places to 188th position.
— FMT

Malaysia to export RM50b in Halal export by 2020
Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC) is confident that Malaysia will be able to export as much as RM50 billion of home-grown halal products worldwide by 2020.
— New Straits Times

Bank aims to boost assistance for SMEs
Pushing small medium enterprises (SMEs) to strive further and to enhance SME Bank Malaysia Bhd’s role in providing financial assistance to targeted SMEs is the main goal of its newly-appointed chief executive officer (CEO) Aria Putera Ismail.
— The Borneo Post

Looking out for Malaysia’s marine resources
Following the landmark electoral victory of the new Alliance of Hope (Pakatan Harapan) government in the 14th Malaysian general election on 9 May, 2018, the new cabinet has wasted no time in making changes.
— The Asean Post

Realme – the fastest growing smartphone brand in Malaysia achieved No.1 Best Selling Phone on Shopee
Realme, one of Malaysia’s fastest growing brands with an emphasis on providing high quality smartphones at youth-friendly prices has achieved many milestones in just one month. Together with its positive sales record, Realme is growing at a strong pace and is well accepted by the local market.
— AEC News Today/ PR Newswire (media release)

Top Glove’s profit jumps to RM110m on record sales
Top Glove Corporation Bhd’s net profit in the first quarter ended Nov 30, 2018, rose 4.4 per cent year-on-year to RM110.06 million on record quarterly sales revenue.
— New Straits Times

Malaysia lost RM47b in GDP value to corruption last year – DPM
Malaysia lost RM47 billion in GDP value to corruption last year alone, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said today.
— Malaysiakini

Foreign funds inflow to improve in coming weeks, says analyst
Foreign fund inflow is expected to improve in the upcoming weeks as evident by the inflow of RM123.3 million in foreign funds on Thursday, the highest inflow since November 8.
— The Borneo Post

1MDB: Malaysia charges Goldman Sachs and two bankers
Malaysia has filed criminal charges against Goldman Sachs and two former employees in connection with a corruption and money laundering probe at the country’s investment fund, 1MDB.
— BBC

Shopee wraps up a record-breaking 2018 with over 12 million orders on 12.12 Birthday Sale
Online marketplace Shopee wrapped up a record-breaking year with its highly successful Shopee 12.12 Birthday Sale.
— New Straits Times

Singapore intends to negotiate maritime dispute with Malaysia ‘in good faith’: Khaw Boon Wan
Singapore is gearing up for next month’s discussion with Malaysia over a territorial dispute, and intends to negotiate with its neighbour “in good faith”, said Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Monday (Dec 17).
— The Straits Times

EPF and PNB to buy commercial properties in Battersea project for RM8.35 billion
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) have sealed a deal to buy commercial properties in Phase 2 of the Battersea Power Station project in London for RM8.35 billion (£1.583 billion).
— New Straits Times

Strong wind, flood alerts in Malaysia
Malaysia’s weatherman has warned of strong north-easterly winds and rough seas in the waters off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and off the East Malaysia states during the current monsoon season.
— The Straits Times

Wall Street Bankers Need To Understand What Corruption Does To The People Of Our Planet
The first story written by Sarawak Report about 1MDB, way back in July 2013, concerned Goldman Sachs. This was a time when few mainstream news organisations had ventured to do more than raise an eyebrow over the immense profits garnered by the bank out of its absurdly over-priced and under-publicised bonds.
— Sarawak Report

WZ Satu’s unit bags RM134m Gemas Johor Baru rail contract
WZ Satu Bhd’s wholly owned subsidiary, WZS BinaRaya Sdn Bhd, has bagged a RM133.5 million subcontract works for the construction of bridges from Genuang to Paloh for the electrified double track project from Gemas to Johor Bahru from YTL-SIPP Joint Venture.
— New Straits Times

CIMB files arbitration to stop PLUS RFID
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, the parent company of Touch ‘n” Go Sdn Bhd, is seeking to stop highway operator PLUS Malaysia Bhd from launching its own toll payment collection system.
— The Star Online

Air Selangor, Splash extends deadline for SPA
Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Holdings Bhd (Splash) have mutually agreed to extend the cut off period for the fulfilment of the condition precedent to the share purchase agreement (SPA) for the Splash acquisition deal to Feb 28, 2019.
— The Sun Daily

Scomi Mumbai monorail contract terminated
Scomi Group Bhd has lost the Mumbai monorail project. The company, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Monday, said Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) via a letter dated Dec 14 has terminated the contract awarded to the consortium, in which Scomi is a partner.
— The Star Online

Kayin increases offer price for Selangor Properties to RM6 a share
Selangor Properties Bhd’s (SPB) largest shareholder, Kayin Holding Sdn Bhd which is vying to take the company private, has revised its offer price for SPB by 5.3% higher to RM6 from RM5.70 per share.
— The Sun Daily

Outstanding Business Leaders and Organizations were Conferred the Prestigious Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2018 Malaysia
Enterprise Asia, the leading non-governmental organization for entrepreneurship in Asia, announced 19 winners of The Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards (APEA) 2018 Malaysia held at New World Hotel, Petaling Jaya.
— AEC News Today/ PR Newswire (media release)

MBM’s alloy wheel unit to improve in FY19
MBM Resources Bhd’s (MBM) alloy wheel unit OMIA has been projected to improve in financial year 2019, with growth expected to be driven by the stable demand for Perodua alloy wheels, among others.
— The Borneo Post

EC lodges police reports against 62 GE14 candidates
The Election Commission (EC) has lodged police reports against 62 candidates for failing to declare their expenses incurred in the 14th general election (GE14), its chairman Azhar Azizan Harun said.
— FMT

Govt to upgrade Streamyx to Unifi by March 2019
The government said it would upgrade all Streamyx user services to Unifi through Telekom Malaysia (TM) by March 2019, Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Eddin Syazlee Shith said today.
— FMT

Avoid U-turns or risk pushing investors away — MIA president
The country’s trade and investment has been vulnerable to internal and external factors since 2017, which led to many investors staying on the sidelines.
— The Borneo Post

What CIMB Malaysia has not told you, but should
There is no such thing as a bullet proof system in today’s connected world – even banking institutions are not spared. When an incident like what has transpired today with CIMB Malaysia comes to light, you would expect the organisations involved to be well prepared to deal with it in the best interest of everyone involved.
— Lowyat.net

DS Automobiles opens first DS Store in Malaysia
DS Automobiles has made its official entrance to Malaysia with the opening of its DS Store in Petaling Jaya, marking the first location for the marque in the country.
— Paultan

Small and mid-caps may rebound in 2019
2018 was not a good year for the global equity investors due to the volatility.
— The Malaysian Reserve

Over 30 renowned artists from Malaysia, China paint 90-foot art piece
A watercolour painting session by over 30 renowned artists from Malaysia and China today produced a 90-foot-long (27.4 metres ) art piece depicting the streets, buildings, sceneries and people of Perak, especially in Ipoh.
— New Straits Times

Feature photo harun md

This week’s Malaysia morning news feature photo acknowledges International Migrants Day, December 18.

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Malaysia morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Malaysia news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.