(Sept 8): Datuk Seri Nazir Razak today thanked 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) for addressing his concerns over its former advisory board member.

The CIMB Group chairman said 1MDB's statement provided the public with a fuller picture of what had allegedly taken place between the state-owned investment firm and Tan Sri Abdul Samad Alias.

"I would like to thank 1MDB for kindly responding to my comment and question.

"We now have a fuller view of 1MDB's version of what transpired to compare with what Tan Sri Samad Alias said yesterday," he told The Malaysian Insider in a text message.

Nazir added that he welcomed the company's move to engage with Samad, following the latter's complaints that it had ignored his many requests for details on 1MDB since he was appointed to the board in January this year.

"I also welcome the company's moves to engage with Tan Sri Samad to resolve this matter," said Nazir, who earlier today had posted on his Instagram account that Samad had been denied information on 1MDB by its management.

1MDB in a press statement today refuted Samad's claims that it ignored his requests for information when he served as its advisory board member.

The state investment firm said it had never received such requests, and expressed regret over Nazir's "speculative opinion" on Samad's statements today.

"Further to the announcement issued yesterday by 1MDB on this matter, we regret to note that today, third parties such as Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, who have no direct knowledge of the facts, are issuing speculative opinions on certain statements made on 7 September 2015 by Tan Sri Samad Alias, a former member of the 1MDB Board of Advisors.

"1MDB can confirm that our president and group executive director, Arul Kanda (Kandasamy), personally met Tan Sri Samad in January and March 2015 to discuss the company's affairs," said 1MDB in a statement.

It said Arul shared with Samad details of 1MDB's strategic review and rationalisation plan.

This included a slide presentation which showed the extent of future debt and interest obligations of the company, and a discussion on proposals to address the key issues facing the company, said 1MDB.

The company added that it would have shared 1MDB's audited financials with him if he had made a request, and noted that such documents were publicly available.

The firm said that its board of directors had sent a letter to Samad requesting a meeting with him to discuss and clarify any outstanding concerns.

Nazir had posted a picture of Samad in his Instagram account with the caption, "Respected, honest professional appointed by the Govt and welcomed by the Chairman with fanfare. But denied access to information by management.

"If this is true and tolerated, what message does it send to other GLC's / agencies?"

Samad told reporters yesterday that he quit on July 29 after his repeated requests, over a period of six months, on the debt-laden firm's state of affairs were ignored.

"I requested for a briefing on the company's profit and losses. I waited for six months but there were no briefings. I quit after that," the Malaysia Deposit Insurance Corporation (PIDM) chairman said at the National Conference on Governance, Risk and Control in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

State-owned investment firm 1MDB has been accused of alleged financial irregularities after racking up RM42 billion debts in just six years of operations. – The Malaysian Insider