Malaysia’s $40 billion sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional plans to issue a sukuk worth up to one billion ringgit ($279.17 million) to help fund schools, its managing director said on Thursday.
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of an Islamic finance event in London, the fund’s head Azman Mokhtar said the planned “social impact sukuk” is awaiting regulatory approval from Malaysian financial regulators. The move is aimed at opening funding for education to a broad pool of investors rather than financing it out of its own reserves, he added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) wants the Auditor General’s Department to immediately carry out an audit of the government-owned 1MDB’s deals before it calls up the company.
PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the immediate audit should be of the source of the RM2 billion used to settle 1MDB’s loans with local banks, the RM3 billion injection of government funds into the debt-laden company, its dealings with PetroSaudi International (PSI), and whether the money parked in Cayman Islands has been brought back………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singaporean sovereign fund Temasek underlined the importance of boardroom renewal in a strong statement delivered in response to the radical shake-up at Standard Chartered Bank, which was announced yesterday.
Temasek and Aberdeen Asset Management were reported to be among the emerging market bank’s 10 leading shareholders to have been pushing for a boardroom shake-up as they grew impatient with its share performance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., the Singapore state investment company, which is the biggest shareholder of Standard Chartered PLC, said Thursday it welcomed Bill Winters as the new chief executive of the emerging markets bank. Mr. Winters, a former co-chief executive of the investment bank at J.P. Morgan Chase, was named as the group chief executive of Standard Chartered, replacing Peter Sands.
Temasek, which owns around 18% in Standard Chartered but doesn’t have a board seat, has expressed frustration with the bank in the past. The state investment firm wasn’t involved in the hiring process at the lender, which is grappling with slowing economies in its core Asian markets that have taken a toll on results………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings has welcomed the appointment of Bill Winters as Standard Chartered’s new chief executive. “We take this opportunity to welcome Bill Winters as the next CEO of Standard Chartered, to build on and grow its excellent franchise,” Temasek said in a statement.
“He brings with him considerable experience as well as an excellent reputation for building good teams.” “This on-going process for board renewal must continue as the requirements and challenges facing the banking and financial sector across the world have become much more complex and onerous,” Temasek added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has confirmed this morning that it has filed debt recovery proceedings in the English courts against the Portugese bank Novo Banco. It added that Oak Finance investors “would also shortly be filing public law proceedings in Portugal against the Bank of Portugal, challenging the validity of the Bank’s decision purporting to retransfer the Oak Finance loan, with retroactive effect, from Novo Banco to Banco Espirito Santo.”
Its litigation against the Portuguese central bank, the Bank of Portugal, could end up before the European Court of Justice, said the fund’s chief executive, Adrian Orr………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Angola’s $5 billion sovereign wealth fund is seeking investments in mining, timber, health and agriculture as it seeks to diversify its asset base and increase returns. “A large portion of the portfolio is invested in international securities,” Jose Filomeno dos Santos, the fund’s chairman, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Cape Town on Thursday.
“We are looking at several opportunities. We wouldn’t want to give away these opportunities by disclosing what they are before they are completely settled,” he said.The fund, which is managed by Zug, Switzerland-based Quantum Global Investment Management Ltd., was established to invest surplus state funds and promote development in Africa’s largest crude oil producer after Nigeria………………………………………..Full Article: Source