INDONESIA - BANKING - Affin awaits Indonesian central bank nod

www.thestar.com,my  - KUALA LUMPUR: Affin Holdings Bhd will patiently continue to wait for Bank Sentral Republik Indonesia (BSRI), the Indonesian central bank’s formal agreement to allow Affin to hold at least a 51% stake in PT Bank Ina Perdana.

“The informal indications so far seems to be quite positive. If possible, we want it to be formalised,” Affin deputy chairman Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin said at a press conference after the AGM yesterday.

Lodin said Affin would renegotiate the stake purchase price should the actual stake buy be less than the targeted 80% initially as “different stakes have different premiums”.  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Indonesia’s withdrawal of ownership ruling to benefit M’sian banks

www.thestar.com.my - PETALING JAYA: The move by Indonesia to drop a controversial policy that would limit ownership of its banks is good news for Malaysian banking groups with a position there, but the market's reaction has been muted.

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, who stand to lose if Indonesia went ahead with the ruling, were unchanged at the close yesterday. (source)

INDONESIA - TAKAFUL - Up close and personal with Hans De Cuyper

www.thestar.com.my - FOR someone who had never aspired to work in insurance, Hans De Cuyper has come a long way.

The 42-year-old CEO of Etiqa Insurance and Takaful - Malayan Banking Bhd's (Maybank) insurance arm - grew up in Belgium where he read mathematics and actuarial science in university.

“If you come out as a mathematician, the world is not very exciting,” he tells StarBizWeek in an interview. “And once you do actuarial science, you have more or less chosen your profession because 90% of actuarists go into insurance.”  (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - Khairussaleh tipped to head Maybank Indonesia ops

PETALING JAYA: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) group chief financial officer Khairussaleh Ramli is tipped to head Maybank's Indonesian operations.

Sources said that Khairussaleh, 43, would assume the position of chief executive officer of PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk (BII), the 97% subsidiary of Maybank, probably as early as next month.

The appointment is subject to the approval of Indonesia's central bank.  (source)

MALAYSIA - FINANCE - Public Mutual launching new Islamic fund tomorrow - Indonesia on the list for investments

KUALA LUMPUR: Public Mutual, Malaysia's largest private unit trust company with 91 funds under management, is launching a new Islamic fund, Public Islamic Savings Fund, tomorrow.

"As the fund focuses its investments mainly in the domestic market, it offers investors an opportunity to capitalise on Malaysia's resilient economic growth prospects in the medium to long-term," said its chief executive officer Yeoh Kim Hong in a statement today.  (source)

MALAYSIA - FASHION - Islamic Fashion Festival returns to Kuala Lumpur

THE Islamic Fashion Festival, (IFF) is back in Kuala Lumpur this month after a series of shows abroad.

This is the 19th IFF event since 2006, and it takes its cue from the orient with the theme, Oriental Charm.

The media were given a sneak peek of some of the designs at the recent press conference.  (source)

MALAYSIA - CAPITAL MARKETS - Yuan-denominated sukuk by Khazanah

PETALING JAYA: Khazanah Nasional Bhd has issued its first offshore yuan-denominated sukuk of 500 million yuan (RM246mil) via Danga Capital Bhd, a Malaysian-incorporated special purpose vehicle.

The three-year benchmark sukuk was priced through a book-building process on Oct 13 and at the tightest end of the price guidance at 2.90%, the company said in a statement.  (source)

MALAYSIA - APPOINTMENT - KFH Malaysia appoints new chairman

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd (KFH Malaysia) has appointed Dr Nabeel Al-Mannae independent non-executive chairman and director.

Dr Nabeel, who is an experienced economist and banker with over 20 years of experience in the financial industry, will play a pivotal role as the new chairman of the first foreign Islamic Bank in Malaysia. (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 - BANKING - Maybank hopes Indonesia won’t change policy on foreign shareholding in banks

KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) is optimistic that the upcoming Indonesian ruling on bank shareholding will not be detrimental to foreign investors. Based on media reports so far, the bank had understood two key points. The first was the possibility of Indonesia introducing foreign ownership restriction and compelling banks to reduce their foreign shareholding to below 50%.

The second was that such a move could pertain to limiting the extent of control by any single person or any single shareholder.

“The second message is part of efforts to improve corporate governance as there were issues at the smaller banks arising from actions of certain shareholders. On our part, we are anxiously waiting for the exact policy to be announced,” said Maybank president and CEO Datuk Seri Wahid Omar.  (source)

MALAYSIA - INDONESIA - BANKING - Maybank profit surges - limited foreign shareholdership in Indonesian banks for corporate governance

Strong loans growth boosts Q4 earnings

KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd's (Maybank) net profit grew by 27% to RM1.154bil for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2011, from RM912.47mil in the same period a year earlier, boosted by strong loans growth and a decline in allowance for losses on loans.

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)

WORLD - The Islamic finance industry grows at 14% annually to RM3.1 trillion

KUALA LUMPUR: Islamic finance has achieved a substantial growth in the past two decades, annualising a growth rate of about 14% over the past 15 years.

Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) Islamic capital market executive director Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin said the Islamic finance industry that was currently estimated to be worth about US$1 trillion (RM3.058 trillion) had made further headway in the Islamic traditional markets such as Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, while penetrating new markets such as in Europe and Africa. (source)

CAPITAL MARKETS - Malaysia has 65% of global sukuk market

SINGAPORE: The global sukuk market recently crossed US$134bil in issuances with Malaysia leading the way with a 65% share followed by Middle East countries with 26% market share.

Bank Indonesia deputy governor Dr Halim Alamsyah said the market was “emerging” in various countries in the Middle East and Asia.(source)

MALAYSIA - Potential in Islamic REIT

DH Flinders Ltd, a specialist Asia-Pacific corporate advisory practice that focuses on real estate, financial services and small capital sectors, sees good investment opportunities in Islamic real estate investment trust (REIT) in Malaysia.

Executive director Stephen Hawkins says Malaysia already has a good start in terms of Islamic REIT awareness, having established the guidelines for this type of investment. (source)

BANKING - 41% growth in Maybank’s Indonesian unit Q1 loans

PETALING JAYA: Malayan Banking Bhd's (Maybank) Indonesian unit, PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk (BII), recorded a 41% consolidated loans growth in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the previous corresponding period, outpacing the industry growth of approximately 24%.

In a statement yesterday, Maybank said BII's total loan portfolio as at March 31, increased to 56.7 trillion rupiahs (RM19.6bil) from 40.3 trillion rupiahs (RM13.9bil) in the previous corresponding period. (full story)

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)