Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Australia's Communist Party China , HK listed law Top Law School graduates about to be admitted to practise in Australia even as China pushes it's agenda through Australian universities

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Sky News has outlined how China is 'pushing it's agenda' through Australian universities.

Meanwhile the Chief Justice Of New South Wales Tom Bathurst and his officers at the NSW LPAB remain silent on their dealings with Zhu Minshen, whose links to the Communist Party Of China are well known, even as Bathurst prepares to swear in Top Group's first batch of Australian admitted lawyers.

TO BE READ WITH 





NSW Chief Justice Tom Bathurst will soon admit to 

legal practise Zhu Minshen's law graduates: Bathurst  met 

with China Ambassador Cheng Jingye in 2016 & must explain 

what was discussed; Cheng's threat to harm the Australian 

economy demands that Bathurst provide complete details of 

dealings with Cheng,and Zhu.

By Ganesh Sahathevan




                          Ambassador Cheng Jingye Pays an Official Visit to the State of New 
                          South Wales   (2016/08/16)


The following has been posted on the Chinese Embassy in Australia's website: 

Chinese Ambassador to Australia H.E. Mr. CHENG Jingye paid an official visit to the state of New South Wales from August 9 to 11 (2016). During the visit, Ambassador Cheng had meetings with NSW Lieutenant Governor and Chief Justice the Honorable Tom Bathurst, President of the Legislative Council the Honorable Don Harwin, and Leader of the Opposition Mr Luke Foley MP. He also attended the informal official luncheon hosted by Minister for Multiculturalism the Honorable John Ajaka on behalf of the NSW premier. The two sides exchanged views on China's relations with Australia and NSW.


In 2015 the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board (NSW LPAB), which is chaired by Bathurst, awarded the Communist Party Of China linked Zhu Minshen and his Top Group the first ever license to award law degrees granted a private company that is not a university. Bathurst and his LPAB have refused to answer any queries about their dealings with Zhu. That license was renewed in 2019.

The license also grants Zhu the power to decide who is or is not qualified to be admitted to practise law in NSW and Australia. This power has been granted despite the security issues that concern Zhu and his activities. 

This week Ambassador Cheng threatened the Australian economy in retaliation for demands that China adhere to international legal norms.  That threat implies a disregard for the rule of law for which Bathurst as Chief Justice is primarily responsible. Thus far Bathurst has refused to be held accountable for his decisions which have favoured an important link in China's apparatus in Australia. 
Cheng's threat makes that overdue explanation a matter of urgency. 

END

SEE ALSO 

Legal Profession Admission Board Annual Report 2015-16 deficiency : Is the Member for Cronulla, the AG NSW, a victim of regulatory capture by NSW Liberal donor Top Group?


Zhu Minshen's law school approvals involved the NSW Supreme Court administration but Chief Justice Bathurst and AG Speakman ultimately responsible- approvals & renewals granted despite Dastiyari scandal, Zhu's defiance of AFP directives


Zhu Minshen's law school approvals involved the NSW Supreme Court administration but Chief Justice Bathurst and AG Speakman ultimately responsible- approvals & renewals granted despite Dastiyari scandal, Zhu's defiance of AFP directives

Zhu Minshen's Top Group NSW LPAB review "went smoothly" despite not providing a cashflow statement LPAB ignores cashflow despite massive fall in market cap, falling cash holdings-Chairman of the LPAB was once a leading commercial QC,so LPAB actions hard to comprehend


Monday, July 27, 2020

Five Power Defence Agreement (FPDA) Bersama Lima 2020 exercises centred on Luconia Shoals would send China a clear and unequivocal message that its bullying will not be tolerated

by Ganesh Sahathevan

BERSAMA LIMA joint exercises were introduced  'to enhance the interoperability of the combined air, ground and naval forces of the FPDA countries.
Bersama Lima 2020 will be hosted by Singapore.Given China's South China Sea adventures which seem to have caused even Australia to alter its posture toward SCS issues exercises centred on Luconia Shoals would serve to send China a clear and unequivocal message that its bullying will not be tolerated.


TO BE READ WITH 



Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Goldman Sachs 1MDB settlement : Goldman's SEC announcement not as broad as Malaysian Government has made it out to be - in addition Malaysia will continue to underwrite Goldman's Signum Magnolia bonds

by Ganesh Sahathevan



Malaysia's Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz announced last week, with regards the government's negotiations with the Goldman Sachs: 

"The government remains committed to recovering other outstanding assets. The settlement includes a cash payment of US$2.5 billion and a guarantee of a full recovery value of at least US$1.4 billion in assets that are traceable to the diverted proceeds from the three bond transactions".

The Malaysian Government news agency Bernama also reported: 

Goldman Sachs, at its cost, will also assist the government of Malaysia by appointing an asset recovery specialist to recover other related assets currently lying outside Malaysia.
Goldmans Sachs announcement to the SEC  pursuant to continuous disclosure rules  about the same matter states, on the other hand: 

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) (Goldman Sachs) today announced that it has reached an agreement in principle with the Government of Malaysia to resolve all the criminal and regulatory proceedings in Malaysia involving the firm, including pending criminal proceedings against subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs and certain of their current and former directors, relating to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The agreement in principle would involve the payment to the Government of Malaysia of $2.5 billion and a guarantee that the Government of Malaysia receives at least $1.4 billion in proceeds from assets related to 1MDB seized by governmental authorities around the world. In connection with the guarantee, Goldman Sachs performed valuation analysis on the relevant assets and believes based on that analysis that the guarantee does not present a significant risk exposure to the firm.


Note that Goldman refers to "assets related to 1MDB seized by governmental authorities around the world",  while Zafrul refers to "a guarantee of a full recovery value of at least US$1.4 billion in assets that are traceable to the diverted proceeds from the three bond transactions".



Readers will note that the Goldman statement is constrained to "1MDB seized by governmental authorities around the world" while the Malaysian Government refers to assets that are traceable to the diverted proceeds from the three bond transactions". The differences are not mere semantics for SEC disclosure requirements are stringent. Additionally should Goldman shareholders suffer any loss as a result of anything that has not been properly disclosed, the liabilities arising from shareholder class actions can be significant. 

Meanwhile Zafrul and the Malaysian Government have said nothing about Goldman's Signum Magnolia bonds, which are backed by 1MDB bond coupon payments made by the Malaysian Government.



TO BE READ WITH 



Sunday, October 7, 2018


1MDB and the USD 28 Billion Signum Magnolia Ltd of the Cayman Islands.

by Ganesh Sahathevan


Image result for IPIC 1mdb



IPIC made an announcement to the London Stock Exchange on 10 October 2018.The announcement concerned ,among other things, the  resumption of its !MDB guarantee obligations by Abu Dhabi's Mubadalla.The announcment included these statements:

Signum Guaranteed Obligations means the notes and loans of Signum Magnolia Limited which are collateralised by the USD 1.75 Billion 5.75% Guaranteed Notes due 2022 of 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited guaranteed by 1MDB and further guaranteed by IPIC."


There does not appear to be any mention of Signum Magnolia Limited in any previous IPIC announcement which concerned 1MDB.


Signum is a Cayman Island incorporated company. However Emirates NBD Bank describes in its 2012 Annual Report as a Malaysian company:

Some of the notable transactions concluded during the year included acting as mandated lead arranger, advisor and bookrunner for syndicated loans valuing USD 6.5 billion, arranged for high profile clients like Signum Magnolia Limited-Malaysia,




Signum bonds pay a coupon of 4.805%. The bond was issued on 07.01.2013 and has a term of up to 02.11.2022. The company is able to issue bonds with a face value of up to EUR 25 Billion , or USD 28.8 Billion. It is not clear if it has already issued bonds up to the maximum allowable.


It is also unclear where and to whom the coupon differential of 0.895%  is going to.Given the USD 1.75 Billion face value of the 1MDB bonds, the differential works out to approximately USD 160
Million (given half yearly coupon payments and accounting for compounding).

This type of secrecy does not sit well with professed ethos of New Malaysia.
END 

 



AND 


Goldman 1MDB bonds stashed in Caymans

  • EXCLUSIVE
    BUSINESS REPORTER
  • The AUSTRALIAN, 11:00PM OCTOBER 21, 2018



Goldman Sachs stashed $US1.75 billion ($2.5bn) in bonds issued by looted Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in a special-purpose vehicle in the Cayman Islands called Signum Magnolia, it can be revealed.

Signum Magnolia then sold synthetic loan instruments backed by the bonds to about 10 investors, mainly insurers hungry for high-interest instruments carrying a government guarantee.

The proceeds of many of the bonds issued by 1MDB were allegedly looted by Malaysian businessman Jho Low, who had no formal role at the fund, and spent on jewels, luxury real estate, celebrity-studded parties and former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s successful 2013 re-election campaign.




Mr Low, who is believed to be somewhere in China, has been charged with money laundering offences by Malaysian authorities but denies any wrongdoing.

Signum Magnolia’s existence, and the existence of the notes and loans it sold, were revealed only last week in a London stock exchange filing by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund IPIC, which guaranteed bonds issued by 1MDB and organised by Goldman Sachs.

IPIC has asked holders of about $US6.5bn in bonds issued by 1MDB to allow it to swap out its guarantee in favour of one granted by another Abu Dhabi fund, Mubadala, at a series of meetings in London on October 31.

In deals masterminded by its controversial former head of Asia, Tim Leissner, that reportedly reaped the investment bank as much as $US600m in fees, Goldman Sachs used its balance sheet to buy all the bonds, which were issued between 2012 and 2013, and then sold them on to end investors.

However, in the case of the $US1.75bn in bonds, issued in 2013 by 1MDB subsidiary 1MDB Energy (Langat) and paying a coupon of 5.75 per cent, Goldman Sachs flipped them to Signum Magnolia rather than directly selling them to end investors.

Malaysia defaulted on $US50m in coupon payments due on the bonds in 2016, sparking a showdown between the country and IPIC over who was liable for maintaining them, but payments have been resumed under a deal struck last year.

After buying the bonds from Goldman Sachs, Signum Magnolia sold two types of instruments backed by them — collateralised linked loans and collateralised linked investments — to investors.

While the notes and loans are advertised as paying a rate of 4.805 per cent, Bloomberg data shows that at least three different series were issued, paying as much as the 5.75 per cent face value of the bonds and as little as 4.632 per cent.

The difference in coupon is believed to in part have contributed to the monster fee Goldman Sachs earned on the 1MDB bond deals.

However, it is believed investors may also have received some of the benefit in the shape of a discount at the time they bought the notes.

The coupon paid is also believed to relate to the risk assumed by each purchaser.

Bloomberg data shows the most recent tranche of Signum Magnolia notes was issued in 2014, and it is believed any exposure to the underlying bonds was transferred off Goldman Sachs’ balance sheet by the end of that year.

Market sources said one of the reasons for using the Signum Magnolia vehicle was IPIC’s reluctance to flood the market with high-yield paper bearing its guarantee that could crowd out its own bonds — although the notes and loans are also effectively guaranteed by the Abu Dhabi fund.

Executives at the sovereign fund were also unhappy because other bond issuers who had noted its willingness to back 1MDB’s bonds were approaching it for a guarantee.

Who owns the notes and loans issued by Signum Magnolia is largely unclear.

Taiwanese bancassurance Cathay Financial Holdings holds instruments issued by Signum Magnolia among its assets, according to its annual report.

In its 2012 annual report Dubai bank Emirates NDB said it acted “as mandated lead arranger, adviser and bookrunner for syndicated loans”.

BEN BUTLER

BUSINESS REPORTER
Business reporter Ben Butler has covered everything from tractors to fashion to corporate collapses. He has previously worked for the Herald Sun and as a senior business reporter with The Age and Sydney Morning... Read more

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Australia considers a new defence for public interest journalism but with Singaporean and Malaysian characteristics: State of NSW AG Speakman has been looking to Eusoffe Chin era defamation decisions for inspiration, has exhibited a tendency to limit the definition of "journalist".

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Reform ‘won’t fix defamation’


THE AUSTRALIAN,27 JULY 2020


Australia's Attorneys General will soon announce  a new defence for public interest journalism.The proposal has been criticised for duplicating  the existing defence of qualified privilege.



Additionally the State Attorney General in charge of formulating the reform, Mark Speakman SC, has shown a disturbing tendency to ignore existing protection afforded journalists first formulated by the Supreme Court Of NSW, Speakman's own state.As reported on a related blog:

As readers might have noticed, Speakman himself has demonstrated that his proposed defence for public interest journalism can be easily defeated by simply denying that the writer is a journalist.His officers at the Department Of Justice and he have in fact relied on a series of discredited Malaysian decisions handed down in favour of Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan, who was found by a Malaysian Royal Commission to have interred with the judiciary. 

The problem is outlined in a submission made by this writer to the Defamation Law Reform Working Group.The solution is simply to reinforce the exisiting law established in the Carlovers and Bond v Barry decisions.

Codification is the only means by which any further dilution of existing defences can prevented. If not, Australians can expect Singapore and Malaysian style defamation laws to prevail in this country. This is but one example: 


TO BE READ WITH

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

NSW AG Mark Speakman and his LPAB's defence of Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan remains unexplained despite Tan's colourful history of interfering with Malaysia's judicial system

by Ganesh Sahathevan


Troy Grant MP

NSW Libs received donations of $44,275 from TOP Education Grosup 


Earlier this year this writer explained how the AG NSW Mark Speakman and his officers at the LPAB, which is chaired by the Chief Justice Of NSW, Tom Bathurst, undermined the protection provided journalists, whistle blowers and sources by the Carlovers v Sahathevan ,Bond v Barry  decisions. 


The Carlovers' decision and the surrounding facts which were put before the NSW Supreme Court, which included this writer's highly publicised sacking from The Sun in Malaysia, included one of Malaysia's most colourful businessman, one Vincent Tan Chee Yiuon,who owned The Sun.

Tan has a history of judicial interference, which is even more widely publicised. In 1998 his interference with the judiciary led to the current Attorney General of Malaysia, Tommy Thomas being found in contempt of court. 


in 2008 Tan's interference with the judiciary, via his lawyer VK Lingam, became the subject  matter of a Royal Commission into judicial corruption. 

All of the above and more are matters of public record, but ignored by Speakman who seems intent on drawing ever closer to Asian businessmen of Chinese origin. 
END