Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan recently tried to clear the air on EPF's MAHB transaction, saying that the national pension fund did not suffer any losses.
Instead, EPF gained RM102 million in profit from selling the share.
"Based on this statement, the EPF recorded a profit from the sale and purchase of MAHB shares, contributing to total investment income of RM63.48 billion for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023," he said during the Ministerial Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat.
But this transaction was not the one that critics have been raising. The RM102 million profit came from selling 163 million MAHB shares at RM6.80 to RM7.70 per unit. EPF bought the shares two decades ago at RM2.50 per unit.
The supposed losses that became the talk of the town were when EPF had to buy back the shares in the privatization effort at RM11 per share. Amir said the purchase was to ensure a higher relisting price.
Opposition MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal said that the answer by Amir was disappointing.
“The question that we did not receive the answer to is on the EPF Chinese Wall. Who is above the Chinese Wall that allowed the coordination of massive selling by EPF that led to the plunging price of MAHB shares? Finally, BlackRock received a ‘subsidy’ from the low price. This is a betrayal,” he said in a press conference.
The Machang MP urged the Public Account Committee to call Amir Hamzah, who was also the EPF CEO when the transactions were made. He added that he was confident there was market manipulation.
“Someone is making money from this deal and I want PAC to uncover it,” he added.
In a previous statement, EPF said that it uses a “Chinese Wall” policy, which keeps its share trading team separate from its investment team. to prevent wrongful access to insider information.
MCA President Wee Ka Siong also raised questions on whether someone in EPF is above the Chinese Wall.
"Who are they? The CEO or the Board of Directors? Why didn’t these "above the wall" individuals use their wisdom to make decisions that would ultimately benefit EPF contributors?
"The Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP) and Khazanah Nasional also follow the same "Chinese wall" policy. Why did KWAP and Khazanah BUY and INCREASE their holdings by 3,555,346 and 17,632,575 MAHB shares, respectively, during the same 13-month period when EPF SOLD 163,363,080 shares? Despite following the same "Chinese wall" policy, it's puzzling that Khazanah, KWAP, and EPF took opposite directions!" he argued.
Longtime Najib loyalist Eric See-To, who writes under his pseudonym Lim Sian See was another vocal critic of the transaction.
“This RM102 million profit represents only 0.16% of EPF’s total income of RM63.48 billion in 2023—an amount too insignificant to have any impact on EPF’s dividend rate,” he wrote, saying the claim that EPF needed to sell MAHB shares to pay dividends is unreasonable.
"MK2 simply stated that EPF made "RM102 million" from selling MAHB shares in 2023 but did not address the losses incurred when repurchasing MAHB shares at higher prices in 2024–2025.
“The main issue in question is the “sell low, buy high” action. However, MK2 only addressed the “sell low” part and avoided discussing the “buy high” aspect,” he said.
Umno veteran and former Finance Minister, Tengku Razaleigh said that EPF's action was “unforgivable."
“According to previous experience, we have an investment panel which oversees the operations of EPF. Surely they wouldn’t blindly sell shares and then repurchase them at a clearly higher price, causing losses to EPF. I believe this is an unforgivable manipulation. The police and MACC must investigate this issue,” he said in a video posted online.
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