KL rules out CLOB investment

KL rules out CLOB investment

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad ruled out Monday government intervention to unlock billions of dollars worth of frozen shares held by Singaporean investors in Malaysian firms.

"CLOB was not started by this government. We have never participated in it and neither have we been responsible for it," Mahathir was cited as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

"We do not see why we should be responsible for it now," he said.

Malaysia's imposition of capital controls last September led to the closure of an offshore market in Malaysian shares in Singapore, which Kuala Lumpur deemed illegal and blamed for extreme price fluctuations.

Some 100 Malaysian issues were traded under Singapore's now- defunct Central Limit Order Book International (CLOB) when trading ceased, leaving in limbo more than 170,000 mostly Singaporeans investors holding shares worth an estimated 10 billion ringgit (US$2.6 billion).