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The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Scandal: Exploring Malaysia's 2018 General Elections and the Case for Sovereign Wealth Funds

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Seattle Pacific University Digital Commons @ SPU Honors Projects University Scholars Spring 6-7-2021 The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Scandal: Exploring Malaysia's 2018 General Elections and the Case for Sovereign Wealth Funds Chea-Mun Tan Seattle Pacific University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/honorsprojects Part of the Economics Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Tan, Chea-Mun, "The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Scandal: Exploring Malaysia's 2018 General Elections and the Case for Sovereign Wealth Funds" (2021). Honors Projects. 131. https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/honorsprojects/131 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by the University Scholars at Digital Commons @ SPU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ SPU. The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Scandal: Exploring Malaysia’s 2018 General Elections and the Case for Sovereign Wealth Funds by Chea-Mun Tan First Reader, Dr. Doug Downing Second Reader, Dr. Hau Nguyen A project submitted in partial fulfillMent of the requireMents of the University Scholars Honors Project Seattle Pacific University 2021 Tan 2 Abstract In 2015, the former PriMe Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, was accused of corruption, eMbezzleMent, and fraud of over $700 million USD. Low Taek Jho, the former financier of Malaysia, was also accused and dubbed the ‘mastermind’ of the 1MDB scandal. As one of the world’s largest financial scandals, this paper seeks to explore the political and economic iMplications of 1MDB through historical context and a critical assessMent of governance. Specifically, it will exaMine the economic and political agendas of former PriMe Ministers Najib Razak and Mahathir MohaMad. In 2018, after the criMes of those involved in the scandal were exposed, Malaysia’s General Election (GE14) resulted in an unprecedented outcome. For the first tiMe since the country gained independence, the opposition party won. This coalition party, Pakatan Harapan, won enough votes to defeat Barisan Nasional. The nuances of the general election, its outcome, and its subsequent relationship with the 1MDB Scandal, offer compelling insight to political iMplications for Malaysia. In addition to the political outcomes of 1MDB, the economic nature of the fund as a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) is significant. SWFs are estiMated to be utilized in over 40 countries worldwide, yet draw Major attention for issues in transparency and accountability. This paper seeks to understand the political economy of SWFs, and what the world can learn from the 1MDB scandal. Tan 3 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 4 THE 1MALAYSIA DEVELOPMENT BERHAD (1MDB) SCANDAL ................................. 5 HISTORICAL CONTEXT ........................................................................................................ 10 Critical Review of Developmental Agenda ......................................................................................... 14 Mahathir: Wawasan 2020 & Anti-Democracy .............................................................................................. 14 Najib:1Malaysia & Anti-Democracy .............................................................................................................. 16 POLITICAL AFTERMATH ..................................................................................................... 17 Political Pressure Against Najib .......................................................................................................... 18 Malaysia’s 2018 General Election (GE14) .......................................................................................... 19 The “Mahathir Effect” ..................................................................................................................................... 21 Current Political State .......................................................................................................................... 23 SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS ............................................................................................. 24 Political Economy of SWFs .................................................................................................................. 25 The Santiago Principles .................................................................................................................................... 26 Transparency in SWFs ..................................................................................................................................... 29 1MDB and Sovereign Wealth Funds ................................................................................................... 31 Lessons from 1MDB ............................................................................................................................. 34 CONCLUDING REMARKS ..................................................................................................... 36 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................. 38 Sovereign Wealth Funds by Region ................................................................................................................ 38 Panel Speech ...................................................................................................................................................... 40 WORKS CITED ......................................................................................................................... 48 Tan 4 INTRODUCTION In July 2009, PriMe Minister Najib Razak and his finance minister Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, launched the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). This investMent fund, owned and controlled by the Malaysian government, sought to serve as a “strategic development company driving new ideas and new sources of growth” (Al Jazeera, 2020a). Prior to officially becoming 1MDB, the fund was known as the Terengganu InvestMent Authority (TIA)— a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) created to promote the coastal state of Terengganu. This 1MDB fund sought to attract foreign investMents through strategic initiatives in order to establish long-term economic development. In 2015, 1MDB was under suspicion for corruption and fraud. The Major players involved include former PriMe Minister Najib Razak, and finance minister Low Taek Jho. This paper seeks to explore the political and economic iMplications for one of the world’s largest financial scandals by exploring historical context, political agenda, and developmental strategy. Soon after the 1MDB scandal was exposed, the 2018 Malaysian elections historically resulted in the opposition coalition winning a majority in ParliaMent. The outcome of this election was unprecedented, and the first defeat of the former ruling party since the country gained independence in 1957. In addition to understanding the political tiMeline of events after the scandal, this study seeks to explore 1MDB as a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). SWFs are defined as state-owned investMent vehicles, and are currently utilized all over the world. SWFs draw Major attention, however, for issues of transparency and accountability. Through Malaysia, this paper seeks to explore the political economy of SWFs and lessons learned from the 1MDB scandal. Tan 5 THE 1MALAYSIA DEVELOPMENT BERHAD (1MDB) SCANDAL The purpose of 1MDB was dedicated to contribute to the country’s developmental goals, like achieving a developed status by 2020. The professional purpose of the fund was to attract development to Malaysia through foreign investMents, by targeting investMent opportunities in international finance centers, power plants, oil fields, and major development zones in Bandar Malaysia. This plan adopted a three-tier corporate structure made up of advisors, board of directors, and manageMent. Najib, the PriMe Minister, was also the minister of finance and chairman for the plan’s advisory board. His role allowed hiM to serve as the sole signatory for all of 1MDB’s investMents (Case, 2017). Since the creation of 1MDB, however, global investigations have unveiled major corruption and money laundering. An estiMated aMount of $4.5 billion USD is said to have been siphoned from 1MDB by major players involved (AzMi, 2020). The 1MDB investMent fund started as the Terengganu InvestMent Authority (TIA). In 2009, the King of Malaysia, who was also the Sultan of Terengganu, agreed to this transition. The TIA was initially developed to support and promote Terengganu, a federal coastal state in Malaysia. The TIA aiMed to raise approxiMately $3 billion USD in investMents, made up by government bonds and collateralized oil payments to the state (Sidhu, 2009). In SepteMber 2009, 1MDB signed a deal with PetroSaudi International. The deal outlined a joint venture company that would invest $1 billion USD for a 40% stake. PetroSaudi, an oil and gas company, had assets of over $1.5 billion (Al Jazeera, 2020a). The joint venture with PetroSaudi was misleading in its portrayal as being connected to the monarchy. 1MDB secured permissions from the country’s central bank to ‘export’ borrowed funds to PetroSaudi. According to the Sarawak Report, an online investigative journalisM site, Bank Negara from 2009 to 2011 found that Tan 6 1MDB diverted most of the funds to Good Star LiMited—a ‘third
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