Bank negara cuts OPR by half percentage point

Bank Negara cuts OPR by half percentage point
By JAGDEV SINGH SIDHU
KUALA LUMPUR: Worried about a growing risk of an economic contraction this year, Bank Negara has cut the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 50 basis points, or half a percentage point, to 2% as the global economy continues to deteriorate.
In a statement yesterday, the central bank announced the statutory reserve requirement (SRR) would also be cut from 2% to 1% from March 1 to reduce the cost to banks.

The ceiling and floor rates of the corridor for the OPR were correspondingly reduced to 2.25% and 1.75% respectively.
“The major advanced economies are experiencing a deepening economic contraction, while the regional economies are experiencing a rapid slowdown,’’ said Bank Negara in its monetary policy statement.
“The impact of the rapid decline in global demand on trade, production and investment activities in the Asian region has intensified.”
It said domestic economic conditions were expected to continue to remain challenging in the coming quarters with the continued deterioration of the global economy.
“While this has raised the risk of an economic contraction in 2009, the prospects remain intact for an economic recovery once global conditions stabilise given that the economy is not over-leveraged, the financial system remains sound, and the external position is healthy,’’ Bank Negara said.
The central bank said the turmoil in the international financial markets had also been protracted and that while a number of economies had put in place stimulus measures to manage the downturn, their impact on the economy had yet to take effect.
“The downside risks to the global economic outlook have increased significantly,’’ it added.
On Jan 21, Bank Negara cut the OPR by 75 basis points to 2.5% and slashed the SRR from 3.5% to 2%.
“This is the first time since the crisis erupted that the central bank has acknowledged the possibility of the economy registering a contraction this year,’’ said Maybank Investment Bank chief economist Suhaimi Illias.
“They are also reacting to the fourth quarter GDP number that will be released this week.’’
Bank Negara said the international economic and financial environment had deteriorated sharply in the recent quarter and that the Malaysian economy had been adversely impacted by these global developments.
“Exports and industrial production have declined steeply, while private investment activities have slowed down in recent months as businesses scaled back their spending. Consumer sentiment has also been affected by the weakening conditions in the labour market,’’ it said.
With inflation on a moderating trend, Bank Negara said the task of macroeconomic policy was to support domestic demand until conditions in the global economy show signs of normalisation.
“Further measures will be introduced to ensure continuous access to credit as well as to minimise the impact of the economic downturn on specific affected groups,’’ it said.
By The Star

Bird's Nest or Ean Oo

Hi Fellas

Bird’s Nest for sale @RM8/gm

One piece is appx 6gm.x RM8 = RM48

Shops are selling RM150-200/pc

Glenmorangie Single Malt Whiskey

He he .....my weapon ready for this CNY. One is 10years old and the other one is 12years old. Come savour with me.

Merry Christmas

Dear All ,

May your days be happy, heart be light & your Christmas be joyful and bright!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS.............

Arowana breeding from natural ponds.

Arowana all time favourites among fish enthusiasts. Getting very popular now with more ponds coming up. The adult size X-back could fetch up to RM12K a fish. Each fry from that spesies could fetch between RM1.2K - RM2K each. Each time 30-40 new hatchings. Wow 30 x RM1.2K = RM36K.

House of Hope and Pure Lotus

Its end of the year now, time for charitable work.

We managed to invite to two orphanages, 45 children, to Gurney Plaza to watch the POWER RANGER'S show.

We also managed to get Pallas to sponsor 50pairs of school shoes for the children.

A lot of thanks to PALLAS, GURNEY PLAZA and YB Chow.

Robert Madoff scandal.

Andrew Madoff
Robert Madoff

By ALEX BERENSON and DIANA B. HENRIQUES
Published: December 15, 2008
Federal investigators have found no evidence so far that members of Bernard L. Madoff’s family helped him carry out what may be the largest financial fraud in history, according to a person briefed on the case.
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Gino Domenico/Bloomberg News
Andrew Madoff held a senior position in the firm.
Related
Court Order Naming Trustee for Liquidation of Madoff Fund (pdf)
DealBook: More on the Madoff Scandal »
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Philoctetes Center, via Reuters
In an October 2007 video, Bernard L. Madoff spoke during a panel discussion on the future of the stock market at the Philoctetes Center, a nonprofit educational organization in New York.
Mr. Madoff’s sons, Andrew and Mark, and his brother, Peter, all occupied senior positions at his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, whose assets were frozen after Mr. Madoff told law enforcement agents on Thursday that he had defrauded investors of up to $50 billion.
Although the enormous scale of the fraud prompted widespread questions about whether one person could concoct all the necessary paperwork such a fraud would entail, Mr. Madoff, 70, had insisted that his family was not involved in the Ponzi scheme. He said it was “all his fault,” according to a criminal complaint filed last week.
And so far, investigators have not uncovered evidence that contradicts those statements, according to the person briefed on the case, who was not at liberty to comment publicly on it.
The person cautioned that the investigation was in its earliest stages, and examiners could still unearth evidence that Mr. Madoff’s family knew about the fraud or even helped carry it out.
But employees of the firm have said that Mr. Madoff’s sons and brother all seemed shocked on Thursday after the fraud was disclosed and Mr. Madoff was arrested. One of Mr. Madoff’s sons had a substantial amount of money invested in the accounts that Mr. Madoff managed, investigators said.
John R. Wing, known as Rusty, a lawyer for Peter Madoff, said on Monday that investigators had not advised Peter that he was a target in the case, and that he expected to cooperate with investigators.
Peter Madoff, 62, reported to work on Monday to help investigators and a court-appointed receiver take control of the firm’s assets and examine the firm’s books, Mr. Wing said.
“As far as I know, Peter Madoff has been 100 percent cooperative,” Mr. Wing said.
Peter Madoff was the firm’s general counsel, while Andrew, 42, and Mark Madoff, 44, supervised the firm’s stock-trading desks, which have so far not been implicated in the fraud. Both have worked at the firm since their 20s.
A person with direct knowledge of the information who was not authorized to speak for the sons said that Andrew Madoff and Mark Madoff had been told by law enforcement authorities that they were not targets in the case.
“They are considered to be fact witnesses only, neither subjects nor targets,” the source said. “They are cooperating totally.”
A lawyer for Frank DiPascali, another senior Madoff employee, declined to comment on whether his client is being investigated or cooperating with authorities.
Madoff employees have said that Mr. DiPascali was the most important figure in the separate staff that worked closely with Bernard Madoff on the 17th floor of the firm’s office at the Third Avenue building known as the Lipstick Tower in Midtown Manhattan. That operation also had its own computer systems, and did not process its trades through the Madoff firm, they said.
Bernard Madoff told his sons that the trading was being done through European counterparties, according to several people familiar with the history of the firm.
The firm’s stock traders and other support staff worked on the 18th and 19th floors, where they were supervised by Peter, Andrew and Mark Madoff.
The complaint filed last week states that Bernard Madoff told two unidentified senior employees on Dec. 10 that he had defrauded the firm’s investors. Those senior employees were Andrew and Mark Madoff, according to several people knowledgeable about the case who were not at liberty to discuss it publicly.
They then called a friend, Martin Flumenbaum, who is a partner at the law firm of Paul, Weiss, those people said. After they told Mr. Flumenbaum about their father’s confession, he called federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On Thursday morning, Andrew and Mark Madoff met with federal authorities. The F.B.I. then sent two agents to their father’s apartment to interview him. He confessed and was arrested, according to documents filed in the case.
Since Thursday, Andrew and Mark have not been able to talk to their uncle or their father because they are considered witnesses in the case and must avoid pretrial discussions that might touch on their experiences.
One of Mr. Madoff’s sons had “a meaningful amount of money” invested with his father and got statements that were no different than those received by other investors, the people said. Andrew and Mark have told associates that their father’s confession suggested to them that the fraud had been going on for several years, one said.
Monday afternoon, a federal judge appointed a trustee to liquidate Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, the broker-dealer that was the core of Mr. Madoff’s business. The trustee, Irving H. Picard, was appointed at the request of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, the government-chartered fund set up to help protect investors of failed brokerage firms.
“It is clear that the customers of the Madoff firm need the protections available under federal law,” said Stephen P. Harbeck, the president of the corporation.
But in a statement, the agency warned that “the scope of the misappropriations and the state of the defunct firm’s records will make this more difficult than in most prior brokerage firm insolvencies.”
Normally the agency can simply transfer a failing firm’s customer accounts to a solvent brokerage house. That may not be possible in this case, Mr. Harbeck said. Moreover, since the agency does not know how much money is actually missing, it cannot determine how to apportion any customer assets that are recovered. The protections provided through the agency is available on its Web site,