THE STAR 13 January 2011

Pembinaan BLT plans RM10b sukuk (B1, StarBiz)

Pembinaan BLT Sdn Bhd, an entity under the Ministry of Finance Inc, is raising RM10bil worth of sukuk in order to fund the construction of police quarters and facilities under the “build, lease and transfer” (BLT) model. The BLT model, a form of private finance initiative under the broad umbrella of public-private partnerships, has been used before to fund infrastructure projects in Malaysia.

Getting a head of risk on board (B7, StarBiz)

Appointing a dedicated head of risk to serve the board of an insurer is becoming an increasingly common global practice aimed at providing assurance to the board on the quality of risk management within the firm. This would allow for an independent assessment of a company’s risk exposure without pandering to profit and loss targets, said head of local insurers.

EU weighs aid for Portugal (B8, StarBiz)

European governments are considering aid for Portugal, debt buybacks, lower interest rates on rescue loans and guarantees against excessive debt as part of a package to quell the financial crisis, according to two people with direct knowledge of the talks. The plan, which may include a loan to Portugal of about 60 billion euros (US$78bil) and purchases of outstanding Greek debt, would mark an attempt to contain a crisis that has frustrated unprecedented efforts by policy-makers to calm markets and raised questions about the health of the 17-nation euro economy.

SC In the News (THE STAR)

Zarinah: Bigger companies’ CR reporting quality has improved (B4, StarBiz)

The standard and quality of corporate responsibility (CR) reporting by the larger listed companies have improved, according to Securities Commission Chairman Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar. Zarinah, who is also chief judge of the StarBiz-ICR Malaysia Corporate Responsibility Award 2010, said CR reporting had come a long way since the CR awards was introduced in 2008 for listed companies on Bursa Malaysia.