Licence to expand Maybank sees local incorporation of ops in Cambodia

KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) is expected to receive a local incorporation licence for its operations from the National Bank of Cambodia early next month to facilitate its ongoing expansion plans in Cambodia.

“We remain focused on organic activities and organic expansion in Cambodia,” Maybank president and CEO Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said at a press briefing after the company AGM yesterday.

He explained: “As we expand, we felt there was a need to strengthen our commitment further with a local incorporation in Cambodia.”

Maybank currently has 11 branches in Cambodia, with plans to open at least another one in the country within this year. It's been reported that over the 12 months to October 2011, Maybank Cambodia had registered a 75.2% growth in loans and advances, with 4% growth in customer deposits

Meanwhile, Wahid clarified that the group was currently not looking at acquiring anything actively in Thailand, but that it would remain open to opportunities for the group to expand its foothold there.

“Thailand remains a missing piece, as far as retail and commercial banking is concerned. So we are open for various opportunities,” he said.

Responding to a question on whether Maybank would be interested in acquiring ING Groep NV's 31% stake in TMB Bank Pcl, the seventh-largest bank in Thailand, Wahid said the group was “not specifically” looking at taking up the stake.

Reuters recently cited sources as saying that ING was putting its stake, worth roughly US$775mil (RM2.32bil), in TMB Bank up for sale as part of its Asian divestment plan. Maybank has apparently been identified as one of the potential suitors for the block.

Maybank may not have any retail and commercial banking operations in Thailand yet, but it has already gained a foothold in the investment-banking scene of the country through its acquisition of a 50.2% stake in Singapore-based Kim Eng Holdings Ltd last year.

“In Thailand, we have rebranded Kim Eng to Maybank Kim Eng,” Maybank chairman Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor said.

“This is for the people to become more familiar with our bank. Hopefully, we can leverage on the synergies with the group to expand our investment activities in Thailand. And that's our focus,” he explained.

Kim Eng is an independent securities and investment broking group with a presence several countries, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia.

On the outlook for the local banking industry, Wahid said he remained confident that the banking industry in Malaysia would be resilient despite fears of an increasingly risky global financial system.

+1