Malaysia did not request the Swiss government to assist in its investigations into SRC International, said the Office of the Attorney-General of Switzerland (OAG).

"The OAG has not received any Mutual Legal Assistance request from Malaysia related to the 1MDB/SRC case.

"We remain however entirely at the disposal of the Malaysian authorities in case of (a) request," it said in an email to Malaysiakini.

Switzerland's Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) had in October last year issued a fresh MLA request to Malaysia over its investigation into SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim on March 23 told Parliament that attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali had written to his counterpart in Switzerland to seek clarification on the matter.

He added that Malaysia was awaiting for a reply.

"This shows that we are not protecting anybody, but unfortunately there are some who choose to exploit the matter," he said.

He said this in a reply to Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo.

Razali said Malaysia's MLA is on the "(bank) accounts of certain individuals there that can help the investigation".

He also assured that investigations are ongoing.

Last week, Swiss AG Michael Lauber said his money-laundering probe into 1MDB is making progress despite Malaysian authorities' refusal to cooperate.

"It's not hopeless, in fact it's the opposite.

"We're still confident we can successfully conclude the process... in particular the open cases against the two banks," he told reporters in Bern.

He was referring to Swiss private banks BSI and Falcon, which have already had to pay out in the case, Reuters reported.

He said the Swiss investigation is assisted by Singapore, Luxembourg and the United States.

The United States Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to seize more than US$1 billion in assets bought on its shores, using funds it believes to have been siphoned from 1MDB.

However, 1MDB has claimed none of its funds had been stolen.

Singapore has also taken action against bankers and banks found breaching laws in managing funds linked to 1MDB.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this report stated that the Swiss attorney-general contradicted Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim's statement to Parliament. This is incorrect. Razali clarified that when he mentioned Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA), he was referring to the MLA request by Switzerland and not Malaysia. We apologise for the error.