Securities Commission to examine allegations made against AirAsia

PETALING JAYA: The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) will be examining the allegations made against AirAsia Group Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd.

"The statement of facts in the case of Regina vs Airbus SE discloses several allegations against AirAsia Group Bhd and AirAsia X Bhd.

"As both are listed on Bursa Malaysia, the Securities Commission Malaysia will examine the allegations and review all available evidence to determine if there is any breach of securities laws," SC chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar (pic) said in a statement on Sunday (Feb 2).

Syed Zaid noted that under Section 317A of the Capital Markets & Services Act 2007 (CMSA), a director of a public listed company (PLC) who does anything with the intention of causing wrongful loss to the PLC or its related corporation commits an offence which is punishable with imprisonment and fine.

In an investigation by the United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) into Airbus, the airline manufacturer had reportedly paid and offered millions of dollars to sponsor a sports team linked to two unnamed executives described as "key decision-makers" at AirAsia and AirAsia X.

According to media reports, AirAsia had ordered 180 aircrafts from Airbus, with the executives described as being rewarded for the aircraft orders.

AirAsia has denied allegations that it acted improperly when it bought aircrafts from Europe's Airbus SE years ago.

AirAsia had said that each aircraft purchase agreement was not made by any single individual decision, but instead arrived at through "careful evaluation, deliberation and the collective decision of the board members after taking into account technical specifications, aircraft flight performance and operating economics".

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had also earlier confirmed that it has initiated investigations into the allegations.

Its chief commissioner Latheefa Koya had said that the commission was in touch with UK authorities.