This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 18, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) statement to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in relation to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) inquiry may be excluded from the PAC report on the grounds that such information was not for public dissemination or court use, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman.

She was replying to Bagan member of parliament Lim Guan Eng, who had asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Monday if the PAC chairman could exclude the central bank’s statement in the PAC report that Malaysian authorities had informed that Good Star Ltd (which had received US$700 million from 1MDB) was owned by an individual who did not have any links with the PetroSaudi Group.

Guan Eng also questioned Najib if Low Taek Jho controlled Good Star.

Azalina said BNM had stated that all information it provided was confidential and for investigation alone, and not for court use or public dissemination.

“All PAC members have been informed of this matter through the PAC chairman’s letter to the BNM deputy governor on April 6,” she said in her reply on behalf of the prime minister.