KUALA LUMPUR (July 1): A lawsuit claiming US$2.7 billion from Standard Chartered over its role in the 1Malaysian Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal will proceed to trial thanks to a court decision.

The Singapore High Court on June 30 rejected the lender’s appeal, upholding an earlier dismissal of the lender’s application to strike out the suit brought by 1MDB’s independent court-appointed liquidators.

“We welcome the High Court’s decision,” the liquidators said in a joint statement on Wednesday in response to the ruling. “This outcome reaffirms the claims against the bank.”

The suit filed in June 2025 by Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla on behalf of former 1MDB subsidiaries Alsen Chance Holdings Ltd, Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners Ltd and Brightstone Jewellery Ltd builds on ongoing efforts to recover billions of dollars of misappropriated funds.

The allegations centre on more than 100 intrabank transfers that concealed the movement of stolen funds between 2009 and 2013, accusing the bank also known as StanChart of ignoring “obvious red flags” of suspicious activities.

Headquartered in London, Standard Chartered said in a statement to The Edge that it will continue to defend itself against the claims.

“The recent decision in the bank’s strike-out appeal is not a decision on the merits of those claims,” said a spokesperson with the bank also known as Stanchart. "In any case, we respectfully disagree with the court’s decision, and intend to apply for permission to file a further appeal."

StanChart also reiterated that the liquidators were representing shell companies with no legitimate business and thatheir claims are without merit.

The suit against the bank, including claims of dishonest assistance and breach of the bank’s duties of reasonable skill and care, should proceed to trial where the evidence can be fully examined, the liquidators argued. 

The liquidators said they “remain resolute in their commitment to recover the assets misappropriated from the companies, and to hold accountable those responsible for facilitating the misappropriation of said assets as part of the wider fraud involving 1MDB”.

The dismissal of the bank’s appeal is a positive step forward for their recovery efforts which are ultimately for the benefit of Malaysians, the liquidators added.

1MDB, created by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2009, has been embroiled in graft and money-laundering investigations spanning more than a dozen jurisdictions from the US to Switzerland and from the United Arab Emirates to Singapore.

Najib himself has since been found guilty in a case involving 1MDB’s former subsidiary, and was sentenced to 12 years' jail and fined RM210 million. He has been granted a partial pardon, which reduces his prison term to six years and fine to RM50 million.

The claimants are represented by Lok Vi Ming SC, Joseph Lee, Mohd Haireez, Tan Kah Wai, and Koo Jin Rong of LVM Law Chambers LLC.

Lim Chee Wee Partnership of Kuala Lumpur acts as the global coordinating counsel for all 1MDB-related asset recovery efforts in Malaysia and abroad.