THE Securities Commission must declare whether it is covering up for MACC chief Azam Baki in coming up with an inconclusive decision on its inquiry into his conduct, Lim Guan Eng said today.

The DAP leader was commenting on the SC’s statement yesterday that the regulator was unable to determine whether Azam had breached section 25(4) of the Securities Industry (Central Depositories) Act 1991 in allowing his brother Nasir to use his trading account.

Section 25 stipulates that every securities account with a central depository must be in the name of the beneficial owner of the deposited securities or an authorised nominee.

“Is covering up for one individual in Azam worth the reputation risk of SC and investor confidence in Malaysia’s capital markets?,” Lim said.

“There have been reports that SC had not acted because Azam had actually lied when he claimed that his brother had conducted proxy share trading through Azam’s account.

“If that is the case, then SC should state clearly and unequivocally that Azam had conducted share trading transactions himself instead of (issuing a) statement that is seen as the SC covering up for Azam and clearing him of any wrongdoing.”

The Bagan MP asked if that meant that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, in return for the SC verdict on its chief, would soon release a statement exonerating the SC senior officers that were under investigation.

On January 11, five days after the SC announced that it was investigating Azam, the MACC said that it had received a report from Rakyat Malaysia Prihatin, a civil society group, claiming that it has evidence of corruption among senior SC officers and its board members.

The son of a top management member of the SC and high-ranking officials who allegedly accepted bribes to turn a blind eye to probes into public companies for trading offences are among the people accused of graft in the allegations.

Lim said the SC must prove there was no regulatory or enforcement failure in its investigation into Azam to maintain investor confidence.

“Such a dishonest and irresponsible statement from the SC has not only tarnished the reputation of SC in regulating and enforcing compliance but also put investor confidence in our country’s capital market at risk.”

Azam had previously revealed that his brother had borrowed his trading account to purchase millions of shares in Excel Force MSC Bhd and Gets Global Bhd in 2015-16. At the time Azam was the MACC investigations director.

Azam said he was grateful that the SC had cleared him of wrongdoing. – January 19, 2022.