INDONESIA - FOREIGN - Affin up on Bank Muamalat Malaysia stake buy talks

www.btimes.com.my -KUALA LUMPUR: Affin Holdings Bhd, Malaysia’s smallest banking group by market value, rallied the most in a month after obtaining central bank approval to start talks to buy a stake in the country’s second-oldest Islamic bank.

The stock advanced as much as 2.3 per cent in Kuala Lumpur trading to RM3.56. It pared gains to RM3.54 at 11:50am, poised for its steepest increase since July 18. It was the second-biggest increase in the Bursa Malaysia Finance Index, which climbed 0.3 per cent.

Acquiring a stake in Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd may increase Affin’s scale and help strengthen its position in the Southeast Asian nation’s Islamic banking industry, according to a brokerage report by Alliance Financial Group Bhd today. Bank Muamalat was formed in 1999, the second full-fledged Islamic bank set up in the country after Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd.  (source)

INDONESIA - REGULATIONS - Indonesia's new bank rules may not hit Maybank, CIMB

www.btimes.com.my - KUALA LUMPUR:Indonesia's central bank has issued new rules limiting single ownership in domestic banks at 40 per cent but allows exemptions that could let Malaysia's top two lenders hold on to their controlling stakes in banks there. Bank Indonesia, in a statement on Wednesday, said public-listed financial institutions will be allowed to keep their current ownership structures in Indonesian banks, provided they maintain high levels of corporate governance and financial health, including a tier-1 capital ratio of over six per cent.

From December 2013, those that see their corporate governance and financial health ratings fall to unacceptable levels for three consecutive reporting periods will have to sell their stakes down to the new limit.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Bank Mestika Acquisition Pending, RHB Capital Rights Issue Lapsed

www.theindonesiatoday.com - KUALA LUMPUR, Indonesia Today - RHB Capital Berhad plans to resubmit an application for rights issue upon obtaining the necessary approvals for the acquisition of Bank Mestika Dharma. RHB Capital Berhad informed Bursa Malaysia Thursday (April 19) that the approval from Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad for the extension of time of up to 19 April 2012 to complete the implementation of the Rights Issue has lapsed. (source)