LAST Friday, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced that AMMB Holdings Bhd has agreed to pay RM2.83 billion to the Malaysian government as a global settlement on all outstanding claims and actions in relation to the AmBank Group’s involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal. According to sources, the settlement is related to the banking group’s handling of the RM5.0 billion bond issue by 1MDB in May 2009. The 30-year government-guaranteed bonds, which pay an interest rate of 5.75%, were 1MDB’s first debt and almost all were stolen by Low Taek Jho (better known as Jho Low) and collaborators, including via a purported joint venture with PetroSaudi International Ltd and a quick flip of the bonds. (See The Edge Malaysia, Issue 1271, June 17 to 23, 2019: “Two Malaysians, besides Jho Low, benefited from 1MDB bond flip”.)