KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Bank Negara Malaysia has revoked three approvals for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to invest US$1.83 billion abroad due to failures to make mandatory declarations.

Commenting on the Attorney-General’s Chambers decision not to consider prosecution of the state-owned firm, the central bank today explained why it had made the recommendation for action to be taken against 1MDB under the Exchange Control Act 1953 (ECA).

“On its part, the Bank concluded that permissions required under the ECA for 1MDB’s investments abroad were obtained based on inaccurate or without complete disclosure of material information relevant to the Bank’s assessment of 1MDB’s applications.

“Therefore, the Bank has revoked three permissions granted to 1MDB under the ECA for investments abroad totalling USD1.83 billion and also issued a direction under the Financial Services Act 2013 to 1MDB to repatriate the amount of USD1.83 billion to Malaysia and submit a plan to the Bank for this purpose,” it said in a statement today.

It did not specify the specific investments linked to the US$1.83 billion, but the amount matches 1MDB’s abortive venture with PetroSaudi International from 2009.

While acknowledging that it was solely the AGC’s prerogative to decide on criminal prosecutions in Malaysia, the central bank explained that it has a duty to investigate all breaches of financial laws “with the highest professional care and diligence”.

Bank Negara added that full compliance with the regulations stated within the ECA was not negotiable.

Yesterday, the AGC revealed that it twice rejected BNM’s recommendations for action against 1MDB after finding no wrongdoing committed by any of the state-owned firm’s officials.

It added that news reports between September 12 and today claiming BNM’s investigation papers are still in the AGC’s hands are “inaccurate and not true”.

In early June, Bank Negara announced that it had launched a formal inquiry on 1MDB’s activities to establish if there were any violations of the country’s financial rules and regulations.

Today, the central bank said it will continue to extend its full co-operation to the Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that are still investigating 1MDB.