Datuk Ir Lawrence Low, MCA's vice president, has come out with a explosive allegation against EPF.
According to Lawrence, In 2023, EPF had sold off a large portion of its shares in Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) at a lower price. However, they have since repurchased them, months later, at a strikingly high premium price.
These series of transactions, where EPF had bought high and sold low, contrary to the accepted norm of buying low and selling high, has resulted in an estimated loss ranging between RM500 mil to RM900 mil for EPF.
This, according to Datuk Lawrence, is a travesty, considering that the ones bearing the brunt of this significant loss are the millions of Malaysian workers whose retirement savings are held by the EPF.
Now I am no expert in the matter of buying and selling shares, but as a layman, when I read what Datuk Lawrence has to say on the subject, I am imagining a scenario where someone had secured a secret arrangement with EPF, whereby EPF will sell its MAHB shares at a lower rate today while buying it back at a higher rate in a few months.
Since no one knows that EPF will be buying back the shares at a higher rate in a few months, when EPF sells its share today, the only party that will be interested to buy most of the MAHB shares when it was sold by EPF is the party that knows that EPF will be buying it back at a higher rate in the future.
If say EPF sold 1 billion of MAHB shares when it was priced at RM 1 ( it is not actually RM 1 by the way. I am just using RM 1 to make the point I wish to make simpler), and bought it back a few months later in such way that it made the price of the shares to increase to become RM 2 ringgit per share, the party that bought most of the MAHB shares when it was sold because it knew that EPF would be would be buying it back at a higher price in a few months, would stand to make hundreds of millions in profit in just a few of months at the expense of EPF and EPF account holders through this secret arrangment.
Now you can read for yourself as to what Datuk Lawrence has to say about the subject here, but to my mind, this is what I am imagining when I tried to make sense of what Datuk Lawrence was implying with his allegation that all is not well in EPF regarding the MAHB shares sale and repurchase.
Now I could be misreading what I read - I am aware that this RM 500 to RM 900 million loss that EPF suffered because of this MAHB transaction could be something that is natural and common in the world of buying and selling shares - It could be that when EPF sold the shares in 2023, it thought it was a good idea, but in hindsight, it turned out to be not such a great idea, which resulted in a loss of between RM 500 to 900 million - but my point here is that the allegation by someone of prominent as Datuk Lawrence against an institution that millions of Malaysians pin their hope on, like the EPF, is something that has to be addressed, to alleviate the suspicion on our minds.
If this is just a case of “man plans and god laughs”, that is all fine an well. We all know that “Sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya jatuh ke tanah juga.” No matter how intelligent and perfect we think we are, everybody will make a mistake someday. That being the case, that EPF suffered a loss through the MAHB deal alone doesn't point to any wrongdoing by EPF.
Rather than the result, it is the EPF’s plan and rationale at the time when it made its decision to buy and sell the MAHB shares that needs to be scrutinised to determine whether what EPF has done is something that is a naturally occurring event or if it points to something more sinister.
According to Lawrence, there are grounds to doubt whether the losses suffered by EPF is a naturally occurring event.
He deems it so, because not only were there ordinary citizens questioning EPF’s decisions and move, professional institutions and board members have likewise raised concerns.
The independent directors of MAHB, for example, explicitly opposed the exercise, arguing that it lacked rationale.
The independent consultant, Hong Leong Investment Bank, also had bluntly stated that something was amiss with EPF’s decision.
If Datuk Lawrence, is right, and there are many people and bodies, many of whom are professionals, who believe that EPF’s move is unreasonable, then EPF must come out to explain the rationale behind its move, to alleviate it from the accusation that it might have deliberately acted improperly, in a way that might implicate its decision makers of abuse of power.
This “buy high, sell low” move by the EPF, according to Datuk Lawrence, is exposing not only management flaws, but also potential abuse of power or improper benefit transfers.
Considering that, it is incumbent upon the government to conduct a thorough investigation, disclose all relevant decision-making processes, and explain to the public who benefited from the at least RM500 mil loss.
If anyone is found guilty of negligence or personal gain, they must be held accountable.
EPF is not a body that anybody should be playing with. EPF is not just any other organisation or company, a body that is responsible for the lives and future of most Malaysians. Its dealing must must be above clearly board and undoubtedly free from suspicion and doubt.
The goverment must take heed of the alarm that Datuk Lawrence has raised, and one way or another, alleviate the doubt and suspicion that has arisen in lieu of his doubt.
It must do it not only for the sake of public interest, but for its own sake.
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