☕️ Which officials Malaysians think are corrupt - National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023

1. MARKET SUMMARY

JP Morgan Chase & Co sees global oil prices going “stratospheric” to USD380 a barrel if the US and the EU price cap on Russian oil goes into effect.

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

Antonio de la Cruz, 47, is the 12th reporter murdered in Mexico this year, making 2022 the deadliest year on record for members of the country’s press. De la Cruz lived in the city of Ciudad Victoria, which has faced issues of violence and organised crime. Mexico is the most dangerous country for reporters outside of war zones.

528 — the number of complaints the Ministry of Health (MOH) received on illegal dental practitioners throughout the country from 2017 to 2021. 71.4% of them involved fake braces.

More than USD330 billion in assets belonging to sanctioned Russians and Russia’s central bank have been blocked and frozen by a US-backed global task force — Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) taskforce.

S&P Global Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registered 50.4 in June, signalling an improvement in the manufacturing sector. The economic recovery has lost some steam compared to the start of the quarter.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

1. DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang wants the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) sets an example of accountability and transparency, starting with MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki. Lim asserted that it is quite far-fetched when Azam is answerable to no one, not even the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Agencies in the Prime Minister’s Department, with regards to the alleged shareholdings.

2. National Recovery Council (MPN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin dismissed Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s claims of the council’s ineffectiveness in tackling issues faced by the rakyat. Muhyiddin said the government and the rakyat should be the judge of MPN’s effectiveness. On another note, Muhyiddin said he had met with the PM last week to discuss several matters — including the deputy prime minister’s post. For the upcoming GE15, Muhyiddin said Bersatu and PAS have decided to use the PN logo.

3. Indonesia will phase out sending maids to Malaysia over poor treatment by employers and unpaid salaries. No specific year has been set yet when Indonesia will completely stop. Desperate Malaysians have resorted to “unofficial channels” — social media — to get their domestic maids from Indonesia after delays in the placement of the first batch of Indonesian domestic workers (PDI). Malaysia and Indonesia had signed a deal over DPI back in April 2022. Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono said the pilot batch of PDI ought to arrive in mid-July.

4. Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said there is a proposal to tear down the Shah Alam Stadium — after previous announcements that the upgrades of the stadium would cost between RM250 mil (2020) to RM350 mil (2021). What is happening? The fate of the stadium would be announced on July 16, in conjunction with the stadium’s opening date.

5. The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has no authority in the merger of Digi.Com Bhd and Celcom Axiata Bhd because any telco merger is outside its purview. Whilst the Competition Act 2010 applies to any commercial activity within Malaysia, the Act stipulates that it does not apply to commercial activities of aviation services, the communications and multimedia sectors. MyCC added telco providers’ activities are subject to the scrutiny of MCMC.

Shorts

1. PM Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced an allocation of RM100 million from the Agro-Food Fund to be placed under the Cooperatives Commission of Malaysia (SKM) to help cooperatives develop the agri-food industry. This comes as the country faces rising prices of goods due to food shortages.

2. Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) has appointed Gamuda Bhd as the main contractor for a RM1.96 bil project — Sg Rasau water treatment plant in Selangor. The project is expected to complete by June 2025. Gamuda now has a total construction order book of RM14.4 bil.

3. AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) has about four months to submit the regulation plan to get out of its PN17 listing status. AAX intends to raise funds of between RM150 million and RM500 million to shore up its balance sheet.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

1. New Zealand has classified American white supremacist far-right groups Proud Boys and The Base as terrorist organisations making it illegal for its citizens to fund, recruit or participate in the groups. The Proud Boys were involved in the US Capital riot last year and The Base has intentions to “bring about a ‘race war’” contributing to the government’s decision. Learn more about the Proud Boys and The Base here and here.

2. The world’s largest pension fund, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), with assets under management (AUM) of about JPY196.6 tril (USD1.45 tril), reported that it lost USD16 bil in Q1 2022, making it its first quarterly negative return (-1.1%) in 2 years. No prizes for guessing the reason — US hiking interest rates and the Russia-Ukraine conflict rattling the markets. The fund has been selling its Russian assets since March and writing off some to almost zero. As of end-March, it held Russian assets worth about USD1.6 bil, representing 0.1% of total assets. It did not disclose the losses it incurred on its Russian investment.If this is any indication to go by, will EPF Q1 performance have suffered the same fate? How much of our retirement fund has exposure to Russian assets that have been heavily marked down in value by other global investors?

3. A huge victory for French aeroplane maker Airbus SE as it won one of its biggest orders for 292 aeroplanes worth more than USD37 bil from 4 Chinese airlines, beating out Boeing Co.of US. The planes will be delivered between 2024 to 2027. China’s largest airline, China Southern Airlines, among these four airlines that made the order, used to be Boeing’s biggest customer but took a turn in the wake of 2 crashes of its best-selling 737 Max model and political tensions between Beijing and Washington.

4. The first half of 2022 has ended - pretty much everyone’s portfolio is in a sea of red. The stock market suffered its worst first half of the year, closing in over 50 years. The S&P 500 started the year at an all-time high and ended H1 2022 down 21%. The last time the stock market declined by this magnitude was in 1970 - but the market reversed course and gained 26.5% in H2. Read the thread below - some hope for our portfolios if history rhymes again. The stock market rebounded in H2 in those years.

5. Is a recession upon us? Copper, the metal seems like a leading indicator. Used in everything from electronics to construction, copper entered a bear market (down >20%) recently and happened before each recession in the last 30 years. In Sabri we trust. Expect a new task force soon if it happens - Jihad Tangani Kemelesetan Ekonomi.

Shorts

1. Supercar brand Lamborghini to invest at least EUR1.8 bil to produce a hybrid lineup by 2024 and its full-electric model by the end of the decade. What is a supercar without the vroom vroom sound?

2. A former senior Apple lawyer in charge of enforcing Apple’s policies against insider trading is being charged and pleaded guilty for - wait for it - insider trading when he was with Apple.

3. Airbnb permanently enforced its global bans on all parties and events at Airbnb listings after putting it in place in Aug 2020. Number of complaints about parties fell 44% since it was implemented. Read Airbnb’s statement here.

4. After a Russian missile struck a mall in Ukraine last week with civilians, another round of attacks from Russian missiles on a residential area in a coastal town near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed at least 18 people.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. A Foodpanda delivery rider’s monthly pay: RM5.1k (RM23.98 / hour @ 213 hours).

2. Who Malaysians think are corrupt from the PM’s Department National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023.