The Singapore High Court granted winding up applications today for three British Virgin Islands-incorporated entities linked to the 1MDB scandal. The decision allows liquidators to bring further statutory claims against Standard Chartered Bank and BSI Bank in Singapore for their alleged roles in facilitating the 1MDB fraud [1, 2, 3].

Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla from Kroll Limited, the liquidators appointed for the entities, said they welcomed the ruling. "We are pleased that the application has been allowed by the Singapore High Court. The decision ... will enable the court-appointed liquidators to take full action against parties who facilitated fraudulent acts against the companies involved," they said [3].

The winding up order follows the Singapore High Court’s earlier dismissal of efforts by Standard Chartered and BSI Bank to intervene in the winding up proceedings. The court ruled that both banks lacked legal standing in the matter and ordered them to pay legal costs [3].

The liquidators plan to file statutory demands against Standard Chartered Bank Singapore and BSI Singapore soon alongside other ongoing legal actions. These include claims alleging dishonest assistance and breaches of banking duties related to the 1MDB fraud [2, 3].

Standard Chartered has stated it will vigorously defend against the claims. The bank said, "More than 13 years ago, these shell companies deceived the bank and abused its services by using their accounts to launder money misappropriated from 1MDB. We will vigorously defend against their attempts to now obtain from the bank the money they paid away" [2].

In March 2026, Singapore’s appeals court dismissed the liquidators’ bid to sue the banks for fraud, upholding a lower court ruling that cross-border insolvency laws could not be applied to transactions before 2018 [2].

US and Malaysian investigators estimate about US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014 in a complex global scheme involving a former Malaysian prime minister and others [2].

The liquidators are expected to announce statutory demands against the banks on May 16, marking the next step in legal proceedings in Singapore [3].