A Singapore court has sentenced Malaysian John Soh Chee Wen — who was found guilty of masterminding the manipulation of three penny stocks that eventually collapsed and wiped off S$8 billion (RM26.23 billion) in market capitalisation in 2013 — to 36 years in jail. His main accomplice Quah Su Ling, another Malaysian, was given 20 years.

The Edge Says: Singapore gets it right — Severe punishment is the best deterrent against future commercial crimes

The Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) is silent after its third six-month special exemption from Bursa Malaysia for the 25% public shareholding spread in FGV Holdings Bhd expired on Aug 3 2022.

It continues to mop up more shares on the open market in an apparent attempt to privatise FGV on the cheap despite high palm oil prices and record profits.

Felda and privatisation of FGV: No end in sight

KUALA LUMPUR (April 17): To compound or not to compound may very well be the question when it comes to compoundable offences. The decision to compound the four executives in the Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd case has raised a myriad of questions, thoughts, and opinions.

As a general princi...

MSWG CEO: What is the reason for the decision to compound in Serba Dinamik case?

KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): Whilst Gamuda is still considering and deliberating the offer from Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat Berhad (ALR), and we will duly announce our decision on their offer immediately after our Board has made a decision on it, we would like to make the following comment(s):

Gamuda says everyone wins with ALR's takeover offer

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): Last Friday (Feb 4), I took my children to the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur to be vaccinated. Like all parents, whether a pandemic was in progress or not, my wife and I were understandably anxious. Indeed we are always anxious. We worry about the state of the world our children are growing up in and about the future they may have to inhabit. We want the best for them and we live in the hope that somehow, things will get better. We steel ourselves to be ready for anything but we weren't prepared for what awaited us that day.  As expatriate parents, understandably, our anxiousness had added dimensions to it.

A pleasant surprise during my children’s vaccination

Serba Dinamik Bhd’s standoff with market regulators and two major accounting firms over its delayed financial statements is becoming a joke. But it is definitely not funny.

To recap, the problem surfaced after its long-time external auditor KPMG highlighted discrepancies involving trans...

End the standoff: Serba Dinamik should make EY review public to prove it has nothing to hide

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 16): Effective Jan 1, 2022, a proposal to remove tax exemption on income derived from foreign sources and received in Malaysia by Malaysian residents under Paragraph 28, Schedule 6 of the Income Tax Act (ITA) 1967 was announced in the recent Budget 2022.

Look into issues in proposed tax on foreign-sourced income

Money laundering is a process of converting cash or property derived from illegal activities to give it a legitimate appearance. It is a process to clean "dirty" money in order to disguise its criminal origin.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is empowered to enforce recovery of stolen assets via the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA 2001).

Understanding money laundering and asset recovery strategies

There are views now being promoted that any prescriptive regulations or employment requirements for vaccination status on individuals militate against the liberty of a person to choose NOT to be vaccinated. And further this is unconstitutional.

Does the Federal Constitution protection of fundamental liberty mean that laws employer cannot prescribe vaccination against Covid-19 be imposed?

MERDEKA!

On the 31st of August 2021, Malaysia will celebrate 64 years of independence. Over the last two years, the usual fanfare associated with the occasion (among others) has been replaced with quieter celebrations at home under what seems to be a perpetual state of lockdown.

Merdeka, in the midst of a pandemic

There is a call to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate allegations of interference on the judiciary. Such a call is wrong and must be rejected.

Setting up of RCI to investigate judiciary is unconstitutional

While grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia has also gone through a very toxic and stormy period of political crisis since the Sheraton coup took place in February 2020. Seventeen months after the parliamentary coup, we have yet another unelected government led by the ninth prime minister (PM), and third in three years, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

An idea of economic governance for new PM

If Daniel Moss of Bloomberg has accurate facts on his hand by just working harder to look at the latest ranking of the Fragile States Index (FSI 2021), he would not have been gloating in his article that Malaysia is staggering down the road to failed statehood.

The injustice of stereotyping Malaysia as a failed state

KUALA LUMPUR (July 1): The rakyat are grateful to the government for the various assistance given to the rakyat affected by Covid-19, as well as the implementation of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK).

Daily Covid-19 infections in Malaysia have exceeded 4,000 for many months, while deaths from the pandemic have also been rising.

Malaysia must make Covid-19 tests mandatory to all, in order to capture, isolate asymptomatic cases and prevent them from spreading the virus

(April 25): Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao is facing up to three years in prison, if efforts by US prosecutors to secure his sentencing prove successful. More than 160 friends, colleagues and investors are determined for the crypto executive to escape incarceration entirely.

Totaling...

Friends, family, royalty seek mercy for crypto’s richest man

(April 25): A disappointing earnings report from Meta Platforms Inc. has technology investors on edge with results from some of the stock market’s biggest and most important companies due in the coming days.

Shares of Facebook’s parent were down as much as 19% in after-hours trading and...

Meta’s miss sparks fear in tech world with big earnings looming

(April 25): Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have reaffirmed a global commitment against deploying nuclear weapons in space, rebuffing US efforts to shine a spotlight on Moscow’s reported plans to do so.

The resolution underscored that countries are ...

Russia blocks US bid to reaffirm nuclear-arms ban in space

NEW YORK (April 25): Benchmark S&P 500 closed higher in choppy trading on Wednesday, as investors weighed an uptick in Treasury yields amid positive corporate results particularly from technology giants.

An auction of a record $70 billion worth of five-year U.S. Treasury notes on We...

S&P 500 ends higher as markets weigh rising yields, upbeat corporate results

WOLVERHAMPTON, England (April 25): Bournemouth snapped a three-game winless run in the Premier League with a 1-0 victory at former manager Gary O'Neil's Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday courtesy of a first-half strike from Antoine Semenyo.

The win moved Bournemouth up to 10th place ...

Bournemouth back to winning ways with 1-0 victory over Wolves

LONDON (April 25): Crystal Palace made absolutely sure of Premier League safety with an impressive 2-0 home defeat of Newcastle United on Wednesday with both goals scored by Jean-Philippe Mateta.

It was a well-deserved win for the hosts while Newcastle's European hopes were dealt a blow...

Mateta double fires Palace to win over Newcastle

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (April 25): Israeli warplanes pounded the northern Gaza strip for a second day on Wednesday in a fierce assault that has shattered weeks of comparative calm, and Israel said it was moving forward with plans for an all-out assault on Rafah in the south.

After an abrupt Is...

Israel says Rafah assault looms; massive Gaza airstrikes end weeks of relative calm

MANCHESTER (April 25): Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes came to his side's rescue with two goals in a 4-2 home victory over the Premier League's bottom club Sheffield United on Wednesday just when more trouble loomed for beleaguered manager Erik ten Hag.

Twice United trailed ag...

Fernandes digs Man Utd out of hole in win over Sheff Utd

NEW YORK/LONDON (April 25): U.S. and European shares finished mixed on Wednesday ahead of more corporate earnings this week, and the yen was mired near 34-year lows, keeping traders wary of intervention from Japan.

An auction of a record $70 billion worth of five-year U.S. Treasury note...

Equities mixed as investors eye earnings; yen on intervention watch

LIVERPOOL, England (April 25): Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored in a pulsating 2-0 home victory over Liverpool in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday that could prove to be the death of the visitors' withering Premier League title hopes.

Everton's first derby ...

Everton deal Liverpool big blow with shock 2-0 derby victory

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has revoked the air operator's certificate (AOC) of cash-strapped low-cost carrier MYAirline Sdn Bhd, effective April 15, after it failed to find a new investor before the April 14 deadline.

MYAirline loses licence to operate as commercial airline as CAAM revokes AOC

Chin Hin Group Property Bhd on Wednesday announced that troubled developer YNH Property Bhd has appointed it to develop a 6.49-acre plot of land in Segambut, featuring a potential gross development value (GDV) of RM685.1 million.

YNH aborts sale of Segambut land, appoints Chin Hin Group Property to develop it instead

The daughter of a Chinese nickel billionaire purchased a multimillion-dollar mansion in Singapore, adding to the list of wealthy people seizing buying opportunities during the market lull.

Xiang Yangyang, the daughter of Xiang Guangda, who owns Tsingshan Holding Group Co, the world’s largest nickel and stainless steelmaker, agreed to buy the 2,612 sq m (28,111 sq ft) house in the country’s Bin Tong Park enclave, according to a property record seen by Bloomberg News.

Chinese metal tycoon’s heir buys US$62m Singapore mansion

Mah Sing Group Bhd's land acquisition for its third development in Setapak,&nbsp;Kuala Lumpur, namely M Azura, has become unconditional. The developer has three months to pay the balance purchase price of about RM59 million. The land for M Azura was acquired on Dec 8, 2023 for a total cost of RM74.3 million.

Mah Sing's land acquisition for M Azura has become unconditional

KUALA LUMPUR (April 24): Construction outfit Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd has bagged a RM252.26 million contract from WCT Holdings Bhd to undertake Phase 1 of a two-phase development of two blocks of serviced apartments in Johor Bahru.

Fajarbaru Builder bags RM252m construction job in Johor Bahru from WCT

Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Wednesday.

KLCCP, Suria Capital, Capital A, Calsberg, Hibiscus Petroleum, Chin Hin, OCR, Fajarbaru, I-Bhd, Farm Price, United Plantations, AME REIT, Axis REIT, MyEG

Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd said it has completed the drilling of the Bunga Aster-1 exploration well and is expecting its first oil production to begin in May.

Hibiscus Petroleum completes drilling at Bunga Aster-1 well, first oil production set for next month

Suria KLCC's established reputation as a premier shopping destination has set it apart from other malls in the same vicinity, which provided it an effective buffer against new competition, according to KLCCP Stapled Group chief executive officer Datuk Md Shah Mahmood.

Suria KLCC shrugs off competition from new malls, with occupancy rate hitting 98% at end-2023

KUALA LUMPUR (April 24): Suria Capital Holdings Bhd’s wholly owned Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd has roped in DP World, an Emirati multinational logistics company based in Dubai, to manage Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP), in a bid to cement the port’s position as a regional trade hub for the East Asean growth area spanning Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines (BIMP-EAGA).

Suria Capital’s Sabah Ports ropes in Dubai’s DP World to manage Sapangar Bay Container Port

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) will finalise a comprehensive strategic plan for the semiconductor industry to ensure Malaysia remains competitive in the sector.

Miti to finalise comprehensive strategic semiconductor plan by next month

United Plantations Bhd’s (UP) net profit grew 18.54% year-on-year to RM132.87 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024), mainly due to a sharp drop in finance cost, on the back of slightly higher revenue, thanks to higher crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK) prices.

United Plantations kicks off FY2024 on positive note as 1Q profit rises 18.5%

Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (Axis REIT), which focuses on industrial assets, is disposing of its property in Nusajaya, Johor, for RM162 million cash to a data centre operator. It did not disclose the identity of the purchaser.

Axis REIT to dispose of Axis Steel Centre @ SiLC in Johor for RM162m cash

GXBank, Malaysia’s first digital bank, said it plans to establish a regional centre of excellence (COE) for shared services in Malaysia, serving Grab-led digital banks and financial and operational services in the region.

Grab-led GXBank to establish regional centre of excellence in Malaysia by year-end

(April 24):&nbsp;Firms making up more than half of Asia’s stock market value are vulnerable to deforestation, species loss and other nature-related risks, according to a new report, as governments ramp up regulations and industries continue to deplete the planet’s resources.

Investors spot new nature-related risk in firms worth half of Asia’s market value

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EVENING 5: Five things you need to know today

(April 25): A disappointing earnings report from Meta Platforms Inc. has technology investors on edge with results from some of the stock market’s biggest and most important companies due in the coming days.

Shares of Facebook’s parent were down as much as 19% in after-hours trading and...

Eden Inc Bhd’s major shareholder Tan Sri Abd Rahim Mohamad is proposing to settle a RM45.65 million debt his company owes Eden by transferring the ownership of a 2.4 million sq ft (about 55 acres) leasehold land to the listed entity.

Eden's major shareholder proposes land transfer to settle RM45.65m debt owed to company

The yen fell on Wednesday to its weakest levels against the dollar since 1990, with markets alert to any signs of intervention from the Japanese authorities to prop up their currency.

Japan's yen hits 155 per dollar, weakest since 1990

US President Joe Biden’s recent polling bump in key battleground states has mostly evaporated, as a deep current of pessimism about the trajectory of the US economy hurts his standing with voters.

Biden trails Trump in six of seven key states, poll shows

OCR Group Bhd on Wednesday entered into a deal with a landowner to jointly develop a residential project on 18.37 acres (7.43 hectares) of freehold land in Templer, Rawang, with an estimated gross development value of RM313 million.

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