KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 16 — Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo has questioned the decision to allow the Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate each other over the conduct of their top officials.

In a Facebook post, Gobind said he seeks an explanation from Attorney General (AG) Tan Sri Idrus Harun as to the effectiveness of this course of action.

Following MACC chief Tan Sri Azam Baki’s admission to proxy share trading and reports over the alleged misconduct of SC board members, Gobind raised the possibility of conflict of interest, saying it could cast doubt on the investigations’ impartiality.

"The attorney general must state whether there is a conflict or the likelihood that the investigations will be compromised or seen as compromised in such circumstances.

"Azam remains the head of the MACC. Section 5 of the Act states that the head of the MACC is responsible for the direction, control and supervision of all matters relating to the commission.

"Reports to the SC refer to individuals in senior management and the board of directors within the SC. Do they have the right to state how investigations are conducted in the SC?” he said on Facebook today.

On January 5, Azam in a news conference admitted that he had allowed his brother Nasir Baki to use his share trading account to buy the shares in two public-listed companies in 2015.

The Securities Commission (SC) later announced that Azam will be called in for questioning this week over alleged violation of stock trading laws.

Citing Section 25 of the Securities Industry (Central Depositories) Act (SICDA), the SC said every securities account opened with a central depository must be in the name of the beneficial owner of the deposited securities or in the name of an authorised nominee.

On Friday, it was reported that the SC planned to interview Azam’s brother, Nasir Baki, over alleged violations of stock trading laws by the MACC chief commissioner.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Nasir is set to give his statement to the regulatory body soon as to why and whether he chose to use his brother’s share trading account to buy stocks in 2015, since it was understood that he has his own trading account.

On January 10, it was also reported that MACC was also looking into complaints against SC board members over misconduct among themselves.