KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has today directed an internal audit into Khazanah Nasional Berhad’s loss-making investment in e-commerce platform Fashion Valet Sdn Bhd.

"As chairman, I have instructed Khazanah Nasional Berhad to conduct an internal audit to investigate issues related to the recent investment loss amounting to RM43.9 million,” he said in a brief social media post.

"This directive reinforces my earlier announcement directing the National Audit Department to audit 2,000 government-linked companies (GLCs) to establish a better governance system, as well as to ensure that all these companies fulfil their respective responsibilities and functions.”

This comes as MACC confirmed that it has opened an investigation into the matter.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he will not intervene in any investigations into Khazanah Nasional Berhad and PNB.

He said even though he is the chairman of Khazanah, he will not stop the MACC from investigating the government’s sovereign wealth fund.

In 2018, Khazanah and PNB invested a combined RM47 million in FashionValet, with Khazanah contributing RM27 million and PNB RM20 million, to acquire minority stakes.

The two government-linked investment companies then divested their stake for mere RM3.1 million.

Khazanah said yesterday its divestment from FashionValet represented a responsible exit to transfer ownership to a party that could help guide the latter to a new growth trajectory.

Meanwhile, PNB said its loss of RM18.7 million after sale proceeds should be viewed relative to RM337 billion in investment assets managed by PNB and the RM16.4 billion in investment income generated after accounting for this loss in the financial year 2023.