PUTRAJAYA: The first session of the Royal Inquiry Commission (RCI) on Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) foreign exchange market losses in the 1980s and 1990s began today.
The session, which started at 9.40am, was held at the Court of Appeals here.
Local and foreign media members had gathered inside and outside the courtroom as early as 8am, in the hopes of being able to speak to the RCI panel members, as well as the attendees.
The RCI was set up following a Cabinet meeting soon after the New Straits Times published an interview with former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) assistant governor, Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid, in which he claimed that the central bank had suffered forex losses of around US$10 billion in the early 1990’s.
BNM was reported to have lost billions of ringgit between 1991 and 1994, before it had to be rescued by the Finance Ministry.
The setting up of the RCI and its membership received the consent of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V.
The six-member panel is chaired by Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan.
The others on the panel are High Court judge Kamaludin Md Said; Bursa Malaysia Bhd chief executive officer Tajuddin Atan; Pemudah co-chairman Saw Choo Boon; Malaysian Institute of Accountants member K. Pushpanathan and Finance Ministry Strategic Investment Division director Yusof Ismail, who is also the commission’s secretary.
The RCI has three months from the date of its setting up on July 15 to complete its probe and thereafter, submit its report to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.