INDONESIA - REGULATIONS - Maybank, CIMB can breathe a sigh of relief

www.btimes.com.my - CLOSE CALL: Indonesia’s 40pc single ownership restriction to affect only new investors
IT looks like the country's top two banks, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and CIMB Group, can heave a sigh of relief as they won't be subject to Indonesia's proposed new rules on bank ownership.

Reuters reported late yesterday that the Indonesian central bank planned to limit single ownership in its banks to 40 per cent, but only for new investments.

"This new regulation will only hold for new initiatives, new investments... there will not be a retroactive regulation," Halim Alamsyah, the central bank deputy governor responsible for banking supervision, told analysts on a conference call, the news wire said. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Indonesia ruling may hurt Malaysian banks' earnings

www.btimes.com.my - KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's top two banks could be dealt a bigger blow than expected if Indonesia limits the maximum stake a single shareholder can own in its banks to below 50 per cent, as news reports from Jakarta suggested. A Reuters report yesterday said Bank Indonesia was set to announce next month a reduction in the single-shareholder threshold from 99 per cent currently to a level below 50 per cent. It quoted unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the plan.

A Bisnis Indonesia report, also quoting sources, said the central bank planned to limit the ownership in banks to 40 per cent for financial institutions, 30 per cent for non-financial institutions and 20 per cent for individuals. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - DBS bid to take over Danamon in limbo

www.thejakartapost.com -A proposed change to Indonesia's bank ownership limits is threatening to dash DBS Group's bid to take over Bank Danamon.

Sources told Reuters that Indonesia's central bank is planning to limit the maximum stake a single shareholder can take in the country's banks to below 50 per cent, down from 99 per cent now.
This would likely scupper DBS' plan to buy a 67.4 per cent stake in Danamon from Temasek Holdings for $9.1 billion.
But some political observers are optimistic that the final policy change will not be so drastic, as senior Cabinet figures are concerned that foreign investors might be turned off by the move.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Bank of Indonesia’s plans will hurt CIMB, Maybank

biz.thestar.co.my - Analyst says Indonesia’s moves to impose new shareholding caps will have negative impact
PETALING JAYA: All eyes are now on Malaysia's two biggest banks, CIMB Group Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), as speculation that Bank of Indonesia (BoI) plans to impose new caps on single-shareholder stakes in the country's commercial banks as early as this month has resurfaced.
The news that BoI was seeking to limit single-shareholder stakes for commercial banks was first reported in July last year.
Alliance Research analyst Cheah King Yoong viewed such a development to be potentially negative for CIMB and Maybank, given their majority stakes in their respective Indonesian banks.  (source)

INDONESIA - TAKAFUL - Sun Life eyes top 10 position in RI market

www.thejakartapost.com - Indonesian multinational insurer Sun Life Financial will double the number of its agents and set up an asset management unit in the next few years to be among the top 10 industry players.

Sun Life Financial Indonesia is currently No. 12 in terms of market share in the insurance industry, with total premiums accounting for 2.2 percent of the entire market, Sun Life Financial Indonesia country manager Bert Paterson said on Wednesday.

“We have a target to be in the top 10. Maybe not necessarily this year, but within the next three years,” Paterson told The Jakarta Post in an interview. “Consensus forecasts that within the market [growth will be] between 20 to 25 percent over the next three to four years. So if that is the case, then clearly, if we are going to capture market share, we need to be bigger.”  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - CIMB Niaga Pumps $11 Million Into Shariah Unit

Bank CIMB Niaga, Indonesia’s fifth-largest lender, has injected Rp 100 billion ($11 million) into its Islamic banking subsidiary to increase its lending, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The new money brings CIMB Niaga Syariah’s capital to Rp 450 billion as of December, the statement added.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - CIMB Niaga Gelontorkan Rp 100 billion to the Sharia Window

Jakarta - PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk (BNGA) made additional capital to business units sharia Rp 100 billion. With the additional capital, paid up capital of CIMB Niaga Syariah recorded at Rp 450 billion as of December 2011.
"The addition of capital to CIMB Niaga Syariah Management CIMB Niaga is a commitment to support the growth of Islamic banking business, especially finance, and maintain a capital adequacy ratio (Capital Adequacy Ratio / CAR)," said Director of Retail Banking and CIMB Niaga Syariah Ferdy Sutrisno in a press release on Thursday (29/12/2011).  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Indonesia’s plan to cap ownership will affect Malaysian groups’ earnings

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian banking groups with exposure to Indonesian banks will see an earnings impact and possibly need to re-think their growth strategy should the Indonesian central bank impose a retroactive ruling that requires major shareholders to reduce their stakes in that country's banks.

However, it is premature to judge the financial impact on the groups' earnings as there is still much ambiguity surrounding the proposed changes to Indonesia's banking ownership rules. (source)

INDONESIA - MICRO FINANCE - CIMB Niaga Syariah Push and Micro Credit

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - PT Bank CIMB Niaga will continue to encourage the growth of Islamic loans, micro loans and mortgage and who are considered to have good growth prospects.

CIMB Niaga President Director Arwin Rasyid here on Monday said the Islamic credit until the first semester of 2011 reached Rp2, 36 trillion, grew 66 percent over the same period last year. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Shariah Banks Doing Booming Business

The rapid expansion of Shariah banks in Indonesia paved the way for Shariah loans to increase by almost half in the first six months of the year, Investor Daily reported on Saturday, quoting a central bank director.

Mulya Siregar, director of Shariah banking at Bank Indonesia, said on Friday that Shariah loans rose 49 percent to Rp 83 trillion ($9.8 billion) through June, from the same period last year. He also said the Shariah financing-to-deposit ratio was at 95 percent.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Limbo in Indonesia (Affin breaking up Ina Perdana deal)

KUALA LUMPUR: The brewing uncertainty over changes to the rules governing Indonesia’s bank ownership limits has claimed its first casualty. Affin Holdings Bhd announced yesterday it has shelved plans to acquire a controlling stake in one of Indonesia’s smallest banks, PT Bank Ina Perdana (Bank Ina). (source)

INDONESIA - FINANCE - CIMB Niaga’s new Islamic product

KUALA LUMPUR: PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk (CIMB Niaga), 97%-owned by the CIMB Group, plans to roll out a new syariah product, Commodity Murabahah deposit, possibly by end of this year, said CIMB group’s head of group Islamic banking division, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani.

Badlisyah, who is also chief executive officer of CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, said the product, to be offered under CIMB Niaga Shariah, the group’s Islamic banking sub-brand in Indonesia, was awaiting approvals from relevant regulators in Indonesia. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Islamic banks expect tax incentive

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Actor Islamic banking Homeland expect any tax incentives to customers who place their funds in Islamic banks. According to the Director of Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) Sharia, Ventje Rahardjo, this could be one way of encouraging the growth of Islamic banking in the future.

"We hope that from the demand side," he told Reuters recently. He said for example on deposit products, there is a tax on customers below 20 percent. "So far, just the same as conventional," he explained. He claimed to expect leniency in order to place the acceleration in the growth of Islamic banking assets. (source)

BANKING - CIMB Niaga can become larger than Mandiri by 2016 - BRI might surpass Mandiri this year

JAKARTA (IFT) - According to the IFT Research Department, in the next five years, state-owned banks may face tough competition from private banks, whose majority stakes are controlled by foreign investors.

Assets growth in PT Bank CIMB Niaga Tbk (BNGA) and PT Bank Pan Indonesia Tbk (PNBN) in 2016 will surpass PT Bank Mandiri Tbk (BMRI) and PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (BBCA). This is reasonable as CIMB Niaga and Panin Bank recorded the highest average annual asset growth among ten largest banks in Indonesia. (full story - indonesia finance today)

BANKING - CIMB Niaga, BII to enjoy good margins

MALAYSIAN-owned banks in Indonesia like CIMB Niaga will likely continue to see decent net interest margins (NIMs) this year despite intense competition in the lending business, analysts said.

NIMs, a key measure of bank profitability, is the difference between what banks earn from loans and what they pay out as interest to depositors. (source)

BANKING - Malaysian lenders in Indonesia face margin squeeze

PETALING JAYA: While the long-term growth prospects of Malaysian lenders' operations in Indonesia remain intact, thanks to the low banking penetration there, the risk of margin squeeze prevails for now largely due to intense competition and further rate hikes. (source)

BANKING - Car Sales Leading Shariah Loans in Indonesia

Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Record car sales in Indonesia helped fuel 50 percent growth in Shariah-compliant banking assets last year and Islamic lenders are setting up booths at automobile shows to further develop the market.

PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia, the country’s oldest Shariah- compliant lender, said consumer loans jumped 40 percent in 2010 after taking part in exhibitions last year. PT BCA Syariah, the Islamic unit of Indonesia’s biggest financial services company by market value, offers a rate of 11 percent on a five-year car loan. PT Bank Syariah Mandiri also attends the shows.

Tapping Indonesia’s burgeoning consumer loan demand will help the country’s Islamic finance industry catch up neighboring Malaysia, the world’s largest sukuk issuer. Shariah banking assets in Indonesia, home to the world’s biggest Muslim population, make up 3.2 percent of the total, compared with about 20 percent in Malaysia, after the government lagged behind in changing tax laws and offering incentives to spur growth. (source)

BANKING - Bank Indonesia hosts IIFM's 23rd Board Meeting & Industry Seminar

Jakarta, Indonesia - 23 December, 2010 - The 23^rd Board of Directors meeting of the IIFM was hosted last week by Bank Indonesia at their offices in Jakarta. The meeting was attended by senior representatives from Bank Indonesia, Central Bank of Bahrain, , Labuan Financial Services Authority (Malaysia), Ministry of Finance (Brunei Darussalam), Islamic Development Bank, State Bank of Pakistan, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, Credit Agricole CIB, Standard Chartered Saadiq and the National Bank of Kuwait (Bahrain).