This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on April 4 - 10, 2016.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said he did not mobilise the bank’s staff to disburse funds that came from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak ahead of the 2013 general election.

Nazir was responding to The Wall Street Journal’s report on March 30 detailing money that flowed into and out of Najib’s accounts over a five-year period. The report said Nazir confirmed receiving almost US$7 million to be given to politicians ahead of the election. The money was distributed by bank staff, it added.

When contacted by The Edge Financial Daily, Nazir clarified that he told his relationship manager, who operates his accounts, to disburse the funds to people identified for it.

“I was asked to essentially open an account and convert a cheque to cash, and then make the cash available to people identified by my brother. My banking account is at CIMB ... there was nothing unusual to it. Everything was done in a transparent manner,” he said.

“I just want to clarify that there’s no such thing as mobilising [the bank’s] branch infrastructure. There’s no issue with regard to the bank, per se. And the bank does its compliance and all that ... there was no exception applied.”

He said there was no wrongdoing on his part. “It was the run-up to the election and it was an urgent thing. Whatever was given to me was given out,” he said.

“I think people will make their own decisions. But the fact is, there was nothing wrong in what I did. My brother asked for help and the help didn’t involve doing anything wrong, so I helped. I didn’t benefit in any way, nor did I think that it would be controversial in any way. But I accept that given the scrutiny and interest in this current controversy, that I’m scrutinised,” he said.

He said he had decided to speak up about the matter because he wants to be as tranparent as possible, so that people know exactly what transpired.

He reiterated that he did not know where the funds were sourced from. At the time, he believed the money came from donations raised from Malaysian companies and individuals. He pointed out that, at the time, the whole 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) controversy had yet to emerge. “At the time, there was no 1MDB story. There was no link, no thinking of any link, between 1MDB and politics. All that emerged after.”

“It is normal, during the run-up to elections, for political parties to get contributions or donations. I was aware because friends would call me and say they want to donate to the campaign.”

Asked if he foresees this issue snowballing to the extent that he may have to step down from the bank, he said: “I think we need to analyse what the wrongdoing was. But where is the wrongdoing? Did I use the bank’s resources? No. Did I get staff to do anything unusual? No. Where is the wrong here? That’s the fundamental question.”

Given what has unfolded so far, would he do it again? “With the benefit of hindsight, with all this hooha, definitely not.”

This article was first published in The Edge Financial Daily on April 1, 2016

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