SINGAPORE, July 1 — Singapore’s High Court has upheld a lower court’s decision refusing to strike out a US$2.7 billion (RM11 billion) lawsuit against Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited over its alleged role in the 1MDB scandal, allowing the case to proceed to trial.
The ruling, delivered yesterday, dismisses the bank’s appeal against an earlier decision refusing to throw out the suit at a preliminary stage. It does not determine the merits of the allegations, which will instead be examined at trial.
The claim was brought by the court-appointed liquidators of three British Virgin Islands companies — Alsen Chance Holdings Limited, Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners Limited and Brightstone Jewellery Limited — which they allege were used to channel misappropriated 1MDB funds.
The liquidators claim Standard Chartered authorised more than 100 intra-bank transfers between 2009 and 2013 that helped conceal the movement of misappropriated funds, while ignoring multiple red flags.
They also allege the bank failed to comply with anti-money laundering requirements and customer due diligence obligations when permitting the transactions.
In a statement issued today, the independent liquidators welcomed the High Court’s decision, saying it confirmed that the claims should be heard in full.
“We welcome the High Court’s decision on June 30, 2026 to uphold the dismissal of Standard Chartered Bank’s strike-out application,” the liquidators said.
“This outcome reaffirms that the claims against the bank — including claims of dishonest assistance and breach of the bank’s duties of reasonable skill and care — should properly proceed to trial, where the evidence can be fully examined.”
They said they remained committed to recovering assets allegedly misappropriated from the claimant companies and pursuing those they claim facilitated the wider fraud involving 1MDB.
“The liquidators remain resolute in their commitment to recover the assets misappropriated from the companies, and to hold accountable those responsible for facilitating the misappropriation of said assets as part of the wider fraud involving 1MDB.”
They described the dismissal of the bank’s appeal as “a positive step forward” for recovery efforts, which they said were “ultimately for the benefit of the people of Malaysia”.
The claimants are represented by Lok Vi Ming SC, Joseph Lee, Mohd Haireez, Tan Kah Wai and Koo Jin Rong of LVM Law Chambers LLC. Kuala Lumpur-based Lim Chee Wee Partnership is acting as global coordinating counsel for Malaysia’s 1MDB-related asset recovery efforts in Malaysia and abroad, while the claimant companies’ court-appointed liquidators are Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla of Kroll.
The lawsuit was filed in June 2025.
