The Monetary Authority of Singapore has imposed a lifetime prohibition order against Mr Yeo Jiawei and a 3-year prohibition order against Mr Kevin Scully, effective immediately. This brings the total of such orders that the MAS has issued in relation to the 1MDB scandal up to eight.

The MAS previously served notices of intention to issue these orders against Mr Yeo and Mr Scully in October and May respectively. Both men were involved in the saga revolving around Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, otherwise known as 1MDB. Various investigators are allegin that huge sums were misappropriated from 1MDB with the help of, and to the benefit of, Malaysian premier Najib Razak, who denies any wrongdoing.

Yeo, a former wealth manager at BSI Bank, was investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) on 1MDB-related matters and convicted by the State Courts of Singapore on charges that included money laundering, cheating, and tampering of witnesses during the CAD’s investigation.

The prohibition order will prohibit Mr Yeo from (i) providing any capital markets and financial advisory services; and (ii) taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any capital markets and financial advisory services firm in Singapore.

Scully was the chief executive officer of NRA Capital Pte Ltd, a licensed financial adviser under the Financial Advisers Act. NRA had been appointed to perform the valuation of PetroSaudi Oil Services Limited. The MAS found that Scully had failed to ensure that NRA’s valuation of PetroSaudi was carried out with sufficient care, judgement and objectivity.

The prohibition order prohibits Scully from (i) providing any financial advisory services and (ii) taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory services firm in Singapore.

The 1MDB saga has seen two Switzerland-headquartered banks, the aforementioned BSI and Falcon Private Bank, banned from Singapore; Swiss authorities have initiated legal proceedings against Falcon. The authorities in Luxembourg have also opened a probe. In May the MAS fined Credit Suisse S$700,000 (€452,106) and United Overseas Bank, a local lender, S$900,000 (€581,279) for breaking Singapore's anti-money laundering laws in relation to the corruption scandal at 1MDB. The United Kingdom does not seem to have become involved yet, which has surprised some commentators. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority is neither confirming nor denying that any investigation is taking place.