[UPDATED] French court grants Malaysia stay on US$15 bil award to Sulu sultanate heirs: Wan Junaidi

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has received a stay on the US$15 billion (RM64 billion) awarded to heirs of the Sulu sultanate after a French court found its enforcement could infringe on the country’s sovereignty, said Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

In a statement, Wan Junaidi said the appeals court in Paris has approved the Malaysian government’s application to stay the enforcement of the final award made in Madrid, Spain on February 28.

The stay also comes barely a day after the heirs secured two subsidiaries of Malaysian oil company Petronas in Luxembourg.

“The court’s order on the stay is the result of various legal actions taken by the Malaysian government, starting from the application being filed to nullify all (other) claims, and to ensure that Malaysia’s interests and sovereignty are always protected and preserved,” he said in a statement.

“Therefore, as a result of the suspension order issued by the Court of Appeal of Paris on July 12, 2022, the final award cannot be enforced in any country until the final decision by the court in Paris.”

The Financial Times yesterday reported that the Luxembourg-registered subsidiaries of Petronas, Petronas Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) and Petronas South Caucus, which the company manages in Azerbaijan, were seized by bailiffs on behalf of the defunct sultanate’s descendants.

Responding to the report, Petronas admitted they have been served with “saise-arret” on July 11 but clarified that the two firms had been divested of all its assets and the proceeds from the exercise have been duly repatriated.

It is unclear whether the two companies were still active in Azerbaijan when the legal letters were served.

“Petronas views the actions taken against it as baseless and is working vigorously to defend its legal position on this matter,” it said.

The seizure is part of the award issued by a French arbitration court totalling US$14.9 billion to the heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate. – The Vibes, July 13, 2022