1MDB: Falcon’s new CEO to resolve Singapore issues

Walter Berchtold, the new CEO of Falcon Private Bank, is to resolve issues faced by its Singapore unit in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. Berchtold, who will officially assume the role next month, plans to travel to Singapore upon assuming office, Swiss business paper Handelszeitung reported. 

Falcon is under scrutiny in Singapore after the central bank disclosed in late July that an onsite inspection of the group in April 2016 found "substantial breaches" of anti-money laundering regulations. Earlier reports said Falcon had been blocked from taking on new business in Singapore by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The Zurich-based private bank  has neither confirmed nor denied the rumor.

The former chairman of Falcon, Khadem Al Qubaisi, was recently arrested in Abu Dhabi as part of the graft investigation into 1MDB by the Abu Dhabi authorities.