THE Securities Commission (SC) owes the Malaysian investing public an explanation if indeed it had intervened in a probe by Bursa Malaysia on AirAsia Group Bhd (now Capital A Bhd) and that its action had brought an abrupt end to the investigation on allegations that top brass of the budget airline were part of a massive bribery case involving Airbus.

This follows a damning revelation today by news portal MalaysiaNow, claiming that the stock market regulator was unable to proceed with its probe into allegations that the budget carrier had received US$50 mil in bribes from the European plane maker to secure the sponsorship of a sports team in exchange for the purchase of Airbus planes.

“After further investigation, MalaysiaNow can categorically confirm that some time between Feb 11 and 12, 2020, the SC had asked Bursa to stand down from its investigation and to cease all communication with AirAsia Group Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd relating to the Airbus matter,” the news portal pointed out.

“It is understood that at the time, Bursa was investigating possible breaches of Section 132 of the Companies Act 2016, Section 317A of the Capital Market and Services Act 2007, and Chapter 10 of the Main Market Listings Requirements (MMLR), in addition to other violations.

“It is also learnt that the SC had then told Bursa that it would be taking over the case from that point onwards.”

On Monday, MalaysiaNow reported that there had been no word on the outcome of the probe by the SC – more than two years after the capital market regulator announced it had begun an investigation into AirAsia.

The case against AirAsia first came to public knowledge on Jan 31, 2020 based on court documents filed by Britain’s anti-corruption authority, Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

The SFO claimed that Airbus had paid a bribe of US$50 mil to secure plane orders from AirAsia in what investigators believed was part of a pattern of corruption by the aircraft manufacturer which spread over about a dozen countries including Malaysia.

Recall that the revelation rocked the aviation world with authorities in several countries launching their own investigations into those responsible. In the process, at least two airline head honchos in Indonesia and Sri Lanka were charged or jailed, according to MalaysiaNow.

Reuters reported on March 20, 2020 that an independent probe into corruption allegations from Britain’s SFO has found that AirAsia Group’s plane procurement process with Airbus was robust and justifiable.

In a filing to the stock exchange, AirAsia said Airbus’ sponsorship of a sports team co-owned by the airline’s top executives was at the relevant time disclosed to and supported by the board of AirAsia Bhd, which has since been re-named to AirAsia Group.

“The sponsorship showed demonstrable benefits to the AirAsia Group and was not linked to any purchase decisions by AAB,” the group said.

The low-cost airline’s board subsequently reinstated CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun both of whom were co-owners of the now-defunct Formula One racing team Caterham F1.

Both Fernandes and Kamarudin had stepped aside to facilitate internal investigation into the matter on Feb 3, 2020.

“There has been no public response or explanation from the SC since MalaysiaNow highlighted its pending investigation on AirAsia,” added the news portal. – Feb 17, 2022

https://focusmalaysia.my/did-the-sc-prevent-bursa-from-probing-airasia-over-airbus-scandal/