Three banks among unresolved 1MDB cases in Switzerland

The Swiss financial regulator Finma said it’s still investigating three private banks linked to the 1MDB scandal.

While it said it considered the UBS Group AG probe closed – in relation to alleged corruption and money laundering at the Malaysian government fund known as 1MDB – and the bank was reprimanded with no further action to be taken.

Finma chief executive officer Mark Branson said there are still a handful of cases related to 1MDB that have not been concluded.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore found violations of local anti-money laundering rules when it concluded a probe of UBS in October, according to the statement.

Finma confiscated profits from Coutts & Co. in Zurich after the international private banking unit formerly owned by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc allowed $2.4 billion worth of assets related to the Malaysian development fund to flow though its accounts in Switzerland, the regulator said in February.

It also punished Lugano, Switzerland-based BSI SA and Falcon Private Bank of Zurich last year.

Najib walks free
On the other hand, three appeals for leave to challenge Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali’s decision to absolve the Prime Minister of wrongdoing in the 1MDB issue were dismissed by the Court of Appeal today in Putrajaya.

A three-man bench led by Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid made the unanimous decision after affirming the High Court’s ruling, making no order as to cost.

“This is a unanimous decision. We dismiss all three appeals for leave for judicial review. We affirm the decision of the High Court judge,” Umi Kalthum said.

While Malaysia found no harm done by anyone at 1MDB, regulators and prosecutors in the U.S., Singapore and other jurisdictions have investigated how banks were used to funnel money from alleged corruption at 1MDB, which has denied wrongdoing.

Finma, a Bern-based watchdog established in 2007 to oversee banks, insurers and other financial firms, had previously sanctioned three of the nation’s lenders over their roles in the affair.