Eddy said: Head-hunted in the middle of potential scandal? Beat me up please, I just don't believe this crap. Lolx, what's an extremist huh?
PETALING JAYA: Alliance Bank group CEO Datuk Bridget Lai (pic) is believed to be head-hunted for top positions in banking and finance.
The offers are said to have emerged since last year but Lai’s contract with Alliance had just been approved by Bank Negara for renewal in September; hence, she has not accepted any offer.
When contacted, Lai declined to comment.
Alliance Financial Group Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Bridget Lai. Industry players said they were not surprised that Lai would be approached by headhunters as the shortage of seasoned bankers in Asia makes someone like her “very bankable.’’
Her 30 years of experience, mostly with Standard Chartered Bank before she took up her current post in 2005, has given her a strong foundation especially in consumer banking which is her forte.
Just two days ago, Lai refuted reports that she had resigned amid a spate of rumours that a senior official of Alliance Bank, who was purportedly on forced leave along with a few others, had offered to resign.
Bloomberg yesterday reported that Alliance Bank also issued a statement that Lai had not resigned and that it conducted investigations as part of its due diligence on corporate governance and board oversight.
Alliance Financial Group Bhd, whose biggest shareholder is Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, said its banking unit is being helmed by head of corporate banking Choo Joon Keong during the absence of its top two executives.
Lai and chief operating officer Shim Kon Teck were on annual leave, Agnes Ong, a spokeswoman for parent company Alliance Financial, said in an e-mailed response to a query. She didn’t say when they might return.
Showing posts with label Banking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Banking. Show all posts
Friday, January 08, 2010
Thursday, April 09, 2009
CIMB Group maintains IT spend at RM350mil
Eddy said: Good move. That's what a market at current condition need. Indeed, competitve advantages don't come easily.
PETALING JAYA: CIMB Group will maintain its information technology (IT) spending at RM350mil in Malaysia this year, says group information and operations head Iswaraan Suppiah.
He said continued IT spending was important in ensuring that the group provided good service to its customers as customer experience was something that should not be compromised even in hard times.
“The majority of the spending would be for IT system maintenance-related services and licensing cost for the systems,” he told a press conference yesterday after the inking of an agreement with Hewlett-Packard (M) Sdn Bhd (HP Malaysia).
Iswaraan added that the banking group spent a similar amount for IT annually.
The partnership agreement with HP Malaysia was for the roll-out of HP’s Thin Client technology across CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic Bank branches nationwide.
The environment-friendly Thin Client is a computing solution that functions as an access point to a centralised processing and storage unit (server).
The technology would help lower energy consumption by an average of 80% compared with traditional desktop solutions, thus reducing greenhouse gas emission.
Iswaraan said the company would spend RM30mil for this solution over five years and this would help save up to RM40mil in maintenance-related expenses and energy consumption over the same period.
“We are phasing out the deployment of this solution and we aim to deploy it to all our branches by year-end from the current two branches,” he said, adding that the bank currently had about 360 branches nationwide.
He said the new solution would help CIMB serve its customers better as the computers would be faster, more secure and reliable and cut down the waiting time significantly.
PETALING JAYA: CIMB Group will maintain its information technology (IT) spending at RM350mil in Malaysia this year, says group information and operations head Iswaraan Suppiah.
He said continued IT spending was important in ensuring that the group provided good service to its customers as customer experience was something that should not be compromised even in hard times.
“The majority of the spending would be for IT system maintenance-related services and licensing cost for the systems,” he told a press conference yesterday after the inking of an agreement with Hewlett-Packard (M) Sdn Bhd (HP Malaysia).
Iswaraan added that the banking group spent a similar amount for IT annually.
The partnership agreement with HP Malaysia was for the roll-out of HP’s Thin Client technology across CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic Bank branches nationwide.
The environment-friendly Thin Client is a computing solution that functions as an access point to a centralised processing and storage unit (server).
The technology would help lower energy consumption by an average of 80% compared with traditional desktop solutions, thus reducing greenhouse gas emission.
Iswaraan said the company would spend RM30mil for this solution over five years and this would help save up to RM40mil in maintenance-related expenses and energy consumption over the same period.
“We are phasing out the deployment of this solution and we aim to deploy it to all our branches by year-end from the current two branches,” he said, adding that the bank currently had about 360 branches nationwide.
He said the new solution would help CIMB serve its customers better as the computers would be faster, more secure and reliable and cut down the waiting time significantly.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Finance the Islamic way at small US bank
DETROIT: Big financial institutions have been battered by mortgages gone bad. But a tiny Michigan bank is getting attention in the industry by turning a profit on loans without even charging interest.
Its specialty: financial products that comply with Islamic law.
That means no collecting interest, no short selling and no contracts that are considered exceedingly risky.
It also rules out some of the activity that got Western finance in trouble - subprime mortgages, credit default swaps and the like.
"When you look at the economic crisis we're in, if you were to follow Islamic or Sharia financing, you couldn't have this crisis,'' said John Sickler, corporate director for the bank, University Islamic Financial Corp. in Ann Arbor.
Islamic finance operations aren't prohibited from making a profit.
University Bank President and Chairman Stephen Lange Ranzini, standing, talks with banking consultant Nabeel Shahid at the bank in Ann Arbor, Michigan - AP
Far from it.
Instead, banks that comply with Islamic law, or Sharia, earn money from fees that are part of the cost of the loan, some paid up front and some over time.
University Islamic Financial has two types of financing, one called a marked-up installment sale and the other a lease-to-purchase sale.
Fees in both cases are comparable to interest payments in traditional loans, bank officials say.
For example: A seller who bought a house for $100,000 could sell it for $120,000 or even $300,000, provided the buyer agrees it's a fair deal.
The home could be sold on an installment plan negotiated by buyer and seller.
The bank is a subsidiary of Michigan-based University Bank, and its leaders say they have talked recently with executives from two national banks hoping to learn more about the business.
Islamic law says money cannot grow by itself, the way it does with compounding interest.
Trade is acceptable as long as the equal amounts of money are traded or two different things are swapped with a fairly negotiated price.
So a dime for an apple would be considered "halal,'' or religiously acceptable, while one apple for two apples would be "harem,'' or unacceptable.
Even at University, not everyone is on board.
Some customers have closed their accounts when they learned it was engaging in Islamic finance.
Some employees who objected to the move quit.
The bank also stopped having a Christmas party and no longer serves alcohol at after-hours events.
The Michigan bank focuses on contracts that clearly spell out the risk and reward between lender and borrower.
University Islamic Financial says it's the nation's first to offer Sharia-compliant, federally insured deposits.
Islamic banking is more common overseas, but some U.S. banks and credit card companies are exploring the idea of branching out into Sharia products to reach out to the growing Muslim population.
So Islamic banking is only expected to increase in coming years.
Already, Citigroup offers Sharia products and services to clients overseas, and Visa says it has worked with banks around the world to offer Islamic-compliant products.
The conventional banking system could learn a lot from the idea, said Jawad Ali, a finance lawyer based in Dubai and London who specializes in structuring Sharia-compliant deals.
"We haven't made as much money as the conventional banks because we can't, for example, sell what we don't own,'' he said.
"We have to own it before we sell it. We may have missed out on gains in good times ... but we haven't suffered any losses.''
Of course, there's no guarantee that banks will find immunity in Islamic finance from a severe global downturn.
"I am not doing banking on Mars,'' said Afaq Khan, the head of Saadiq, the Islamic banking arm of Standard Chartered Bank, based in London.
"If real economic activity slows down significantly, the Islamic banking industry will also be affected.''
A Sharia-compliant mortgage is like rent-to-own: There is no note, or mortgage, but typically part of each month's payment is held toward the ultimate purchase.
The property is titled to an individual trust, or limited liability corporation. Deutsche Bank estimates total assets in the Islamic finance market at $1 trillion - a tiny fraction of global financial assets, but the bank said in a recent report that the sector been growing at a clip of 15 to 20 percent per year.
Most big international banks already have Islamic banking arms, and a November report by Moody's Investors Service shows that Islamic banks have been fairly resilient to the global economic downturn.
The U.S. banking industry has not embraced Sharia banking.
Wachovia, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase said they have not adopted Sharia practices and declined to comment about what they may do in the future.
"As far as the future, we are always looking for opportunities to better serve our customers, but our specific strategy is proprietary,'' Wells Fargo spokeswoman Lisa Westermann said.
University Bank President Stephen Ranzini declined to name the U.S. banks that University Islamic has talked to.
But he said his bank soon plans to offer its services such as residential lending to other banks and credit unions nationwide.
Sharia banking is an idea "that is long overdue in this country,'' said Amal Berry-Brown, vice president at Comerica, a Dallas regional bank that has talked with Ranzini.
"At the same time, there really is quite a bit of work to be done.''
Comerica has a strong customer base around Detroit, home to the nation's most concentrated Muslim population.
One issue: There is "a big variance'' within Sharia law about exactly which financial practices are considered good and bad, said Mustafa Gultekin, a finance professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For University Islamic, the niche appears to be paying off.
Ranzini said he expects it to generate more than 25 percent of the overall bank's revenue this year, up from about 20 percent last year. - AP
Its specialty: financial products that comply with Islamic law.
That means no collecting interest, no short selling and no contracts that are considered exceedingly risky.
It also rules out some of the activity that got Western finance in trouble - subprime mortgages, credit default swaps and the like.
"When you look at the economic crisis we're in, if you were to follow Islamic or Sharia financing, you couldn't have this crisis,'' said John Sickler, corporate director for the bank, University Islamic Financial Corp. in Ann Arbor.
Islamic finance operations aren't prohibited from making a profit.
University Bank President and Chairman Stephen Lange Ranzini, standing, talks with banking consultant Nabeel Shahid at the bank in Ann Arbor, Michigan - AP
Far from it.
Instead, banks that comply with Islamic law, or Sharia, earn money from fees that are part of the cost of the loan, some paid up front and some over time.
University Islamic Financial has two types of financing, one called a marked-up installment sale and the other a lease-to-purchase sale.
Fees in both cases are comparable to interest payments in traditional loans, bank officials say.
For example: A seller who bought a house for $100,000 could sell it for $120,000 or even $300,000, provided the buyer agrees it's a fair deal.
The home could be sold on an installment plan negotiated by buyer and seller.
The bank is a subsidiary of Michigan-based University Bank, and its leaders say they have talked recently with executives from two national banks hoping to learn more about the business.
Islamic law says money cannot grow by itself, the way it does with compounding interest.
Trade is acceptable as long as the equal amounts of money are traded or two different things are swapped with a fairly negotiated price.
So a dime for an apple would be considered "halal,'' or religiously acceptable, while one apple for two apples would be "harem,'' or unacceptable.
Even at University, not everyone is on board.
Some customers have closed their accounts when they learned it was engaging in Islamic finance.
Some employees who objected to the move quit.
The bank also stopped having a Christmas party and no longer serves alcohol at after-hours events.
The Michigan bank focuses on contracts that clearly spell out the risk and reward between lender and borrower.
University Islamic Financial says it's the nation's first to offer Sharia-compliant, federally insured deposits.
Islamic banking is more common overseas, but some U.S. banks and credit card companies are exploring the idea of branching out into Sharia products to reach out to the growing Muslim population.
So Islamic banking is only expected to increase in coming years.
Already, Citigroup offers Sharia products and services to clients overseas, and Visa says it has worked with banks around the world to offer Islamic-compliant products.
The conventional banking system could learn a lot from the idea, said Jawad Ali, a finance lawyer based in Dubai and London who specializes in structuring Sharia-compliant deals.
"We haven't made as much money as the conventional banks because we can't, for example, sell what we don't own,'' he said.
"We have to own it before we sell it. We may have missed out on gains in good times ... but we haven't suffered any losses.''
Of course, there's no guarantee that banks will find immunity in Islamic finance from a severe global downturn.
"I am not doing banking on Mars,'' said Afaq Khan, the head of Saadiq, the Islamic banking arm of Standard Chartered Bank, based in London.
"If real economic activity slows down significantly, the Islamic banking industry will also be affected.''
A Sharia-compliant mortgage is like rent-to-own: There is no note, or mortgage, but typically part of each month's payment is held toward the ultimate purchase.
The property is titled to an individual trust, or limited liability corporation. Deutsche Bank estimates total assets in the Islamic finance market at $1 trillion - a tiny fraction of global financial assets, but the bank said in a recent report that the sector been growing at a clip of 15 to 20 percent per year.
Most big international banks already have Islamic banking arms, and a November report by Moody's Investors Service shows that Islamic banks have been fairly resilient to the global economic downturn.
The U.S. banking industry has not embraced Sharia banking.
Wachovia, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase said they have not adopted Sharia practices and declined to comment about what they may do in the future.
"As far as the future, we are always looking for opportunities to better serve our customers, but our specific strategy is proprietary,'' Wells Fargo spokeswoman Lisa Westermann said.
University Bank President Stephen Ranzini declined to name the U.S. banks that University Islamic has talked to.
But he said his bank soon plans to offer its services such as residential lending to other banks and credit unions nationwide.
Sharia banking is an idea "that is long overdue in this country,'' said Amal Berry-Brown, vice president at Comerica, a Dallas regional bank that has talked with Ranzini.
"At the same time, there really is quite a bit of work to be done.''
Comerica has a strong customer base around Detroit, home to the nation's most concentrated Muslim population.
One issue: There is "a big variance'' within Sharia law about exactly which financial practices are considered good and bad, said Mustafa Gultekin, a finance professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For University Islamic, the niche appears to be paying off.
Ranzini said he expects it to generate more than 25 percent of the overall bank's revenue this year, up from about 20 percent last year. - AP
Friday, December 26, 2008
Value at Risk Construction at a Glance
It is so easy to compute this number and even easier to let it strew up decision makings. Value at Risk definitely a double edged blade.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Some History to be remembered
Eddy said: I'm not sure how many Malaysian out there old enough to recall financial incidents that happened in the past 20 years? Ya, you might remember the Asian financial crisis 1997, Japan financial crisis 1989, US black monday 1987, Russia Default 1998 and many more, but particularly you do need to remember 1992-1993 Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) jokes with the country's money. When too much power is placed under a single authority entity, usually the entity strew itself up and dragged the comrades down together to the den of burning hell fire.
The situation in Malaysia is persistent enough to allow many of these disasters to haunt us, the pityful and powerless people, again and again. I hate to repetitively say this in my blog, but transparency is too important in order for us to move towards a better Malaysia. Specifically, we must keep a bigger eye on GLC companies, on government agencies and people high up in the authority to ensure proper control and procedures.
Read up the following articles/pages to understand 1992-1993 BNM loss making bets.
Lim Kit Siang - The BNM RM30 Billion Forex Losses
Forays into forex: Bank Negara's RM9.3b loss
Wiki: BNM
The situation in Malaysia is persistent enough to allow many of these disasters to haunt us, the pityful and powerless people, again and again. I hate to repetitively say this in my blog, but transparency is too important in order for us to move towards a better Malaysia. Specifically, we must keep a bigger eye on GLC companies, on government agencies and people high up in the authority to ensure proper control and procedures.
Read up the following articles/pages to understand 1992-1993 BNM loss making bets.
Lim Kit Siang - The BNM RM30 Billion Forex Losses
Forays into forex: Bank Negara's RM9.3b loss
Wiki: BNM
Monday, November 17, 2008
More using debit cards in Malaysia
Eddy said: This phenomenon has everything to do with the marketing efforts of banks. Standard Chartered, for instance, promotes their eSaver debit card by giving away
7% rebate on petrol charges and a higher than the norm deposit interest rate. See? Cash is king now.
KUALA LUMPUR:
MORE and more people are using debit cards in Malaysia to make payment, MasterCard vice president and senior country manager (Malaysia and Brunei) Jim Cheah revealed today.
“There is huge potential for the usage of debit cards in Malaysia.
Consumers are starting to use debit cards,” Cheah said at a media briefing on the MasterCard debit card here.
On the advantages, he said the debit card was more convenient and secure than carrying cash, offered better financial control to the cardholder and came with worldwide acceptance.
He also said that markets like Australia, the United States, Taiwan and parts of Europe, the debit transaction volume was higher that credit card transactions.
On the MasterCard debit card in Malaysia, Cheah said six local banks had already introduced the debit products in the Malaysian market, which could be used at automated teller machines (ATMs) for cash, transfer or account information.
The debit card is currently available at Affin Bank, Alliance Bank, EON Bank, Public Bank, RHB Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.
According to Cheah, MasterCard is in the forefront of innovation, creativity and cutting-edge technology, leading debit as the payment tool for the future.
7% rebate on petrol charges and a higher than the norm deposit interest rate. See? Cash is king now.
KUALA LUMPUR:
MORE and more people are using debit cards in Malaysia to make payment, MasterCard vice president and senior country manager (Malaysia and Brunei) Jim Cheah revealed today.
“There is huge potential for the usage of debit cards in Malaysia.
Consumers are starting to use debit cards,” Cheah said at a media briefing on the MasterCard debit card here.
On the advantages, he said the debit card was more convenient and secure than carrying cash, offered better financial control to the cardholder and came with worldwide acceptance.
He also said that markets like Australia, the United States, Taiwan and parts of Europe, the debit transaction volume was higher that credit card transactions.
On the MasterCard debit card in Malaysia, Cheah said six local banks had already introduced the debit products in the Malaysian market, which could be used at automated teller machines (ATMs) for cash, transfer or account information.
The debit card is currently available at Affin Bank, Alliance Bank, EON Bank, Public Bank, RHB Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.
According to Cheah, MasterCard is in the forefront of innovation, creativity and cutting-edge technology, leading debit as the payment tool for the future.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Unit Trust Funds
I don't have faith in unit trust funds/mutual funds products in Malaysia, seriously.
Imagine you walk into a bank, sit down in front of the investment customer support counter and start to talk with one of the staffs about your desires to make more money out from your savings. The chances are you will have similar conversation like below:
(P/S: Eddy is pretending dumb)
Eddy: I heard about making money by "buying" unit trust funds.
Staff: O yes (Taking out a products brochure), this is our bank offering
Eddy: Wow, there are so many of them. Which one should I buy?
Staff: Basically, all of them are good products (*bang head). It really depends on your specific goals
Eddy: I have RM 10k and which is the best for me?
Staff: Are you a high risk taker? Aggressive? How fast you wanna make money?
Eddy: (Duh! Of course I wanna make money fast lar) I can take risk.
Staff: Emmm.. Then you might (wth, might???) buy this product. The fund actually buy into China mainland bluechips.
Eddy: I heard China market is slumping now
Staff: Well.. err... Then this is a good chance to buy, if you miss the boat previously.
Eddy: (WTH)
Eddy: How much I can earn if I "buy" RM10K?
Staff: The return is non guaranteed because it will be based on the actual performance. However, if the market perform well, then you can earn much higher than lots of other investments like FD (WTH!)
(Ok, at this point, if he never shows you the historical chart, most probably the fund is badly performed)
(Remember, there is always reason why these salesman are pushing for a particular fund, perhaps to meet sales quota)
Eddy: Do you personally buy into any of the funds?
Staff: Of course, I buy in little bit too.
Eddy: (I doubt so)
Ok, the above conversation is fictionous, but I did once bought an Islamic Syariah compliant fund with one of the Malaysia's leading bank in year 2005 and then suffered from losses about 25% of total capital and only recovered during mid-2007 when I sold them break even with my purchase price. Sucks, even time deposit saving outperformed these losers.
My point is most of the sales representatives are incompetent and not in any position qualified to give advice on fund investment. Of course, there are qualified investment professionals but good chance is they only serving high net worth individuals or corporates, not entertaining retail customers like you and me.
I disgust dollar averaging strategy as adviced by most "salesman". Blind monthly contribution is not really my cup of tea. I prefer seasonal dollar averaging particularly when the stock market is slumped. Buy low sell high, it is as easy as that. Why put money in fund when the fund price is high? Higher get higher? Why you want to trade such a big downside risk for a marginal upside reward? Think twice.
One comment about a Malaysia bank, the one starts with 'P' and its funds won lots of awards, is please remember unless you really study and understand the mechanics of their fund manager investment strategy, else no matter how good they are as beautified by these awards, they are really only "Juara Kampung". And yes, you are right about "Putting money in Juara Kampung is better than putting in other Kampung Losers".
Monday, June 09, 2008
CIMB to lower auto loans repayments
KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Bank Bhd is offering to restructure its customers’ auto loans via a customised programme that lowers monthly repayments.
The Customised Auto Repayment Schedule (CARS) programme is aimed at helping customers to refinance and restructure their existing car loans, in a move to help them cope with the recent fuel price hike.
“This programme applies to auto loans of one year or more and its objective is to reduce a vehicle owner’s monthly instalment by between 20% and 30% and free up additional disposable income and assist car owners in trying to manage the financial effects of the recent rise in fuel cost,” CIMB’s head of retail banking Peter England said in a statement last Friday.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
YTM, Yield to Maturity
Yield to Maturity which is one of the many summary measures for bond valuation is simply another application of Internal Rate of Return, IRR. Thus, it suffers from the same assumptions and limitations of IRR.
To recover return rate that is exactly equal to the YTM for the investment,
Possible cash flows for a couple bond shall include,
Due to the fact that the cash flows during the lifetime of most bonds (except for non-callable, non-convertible, zero couple bond) are hard to predict, YTM is really a guidance measure instead of exact forecast of the bond return.
To recover return rate that is exactly equal to the YTM for the investment,
- The cash flows must be reinvested at the YTM rate
- The investment must be hold till maturity
- The bond must be redeem at par
Possible cash flows for a couple bond shall include,
- Coupon payments
- Principal recovery
- Reinvestment return
Due to the fact that the cash flows during the lifetime of most bonds (except for non-callable, non-convertible, zero couple bond) are hard to predict, YTM is really a guidance measure instead of exact forecast of the bond return.
- When a bond sells at a discount, YTM > current yield > coupon yield.
- When a bond sells at a premium, coupon yield > current yield > YTM.
- When a bond sells at par, YTM = current yield = coupon yield.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Ranking of Malaysian Banks based on Market Capitalization
The following figure shows the market capitalization ranking of our very own banks.
Let us try to guess which of these banks will merge and buy more on these counters. :p
Source from Business Times.
Let us try to guess which of these banks will merge and buy more on these counters. :p
Source from Business Times.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Malaysia urged to expand Islamic Banking to Bosnia
Malaysia urged to expand Islamic Banking to Bosnia
By CHOI TUCK WO
SARAJEVO: Malaysia has been urged to expand its Islamic banking to Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the rising interest in such products and services, according to the countrys first Islamic bank CEO.
Amer Bukvic of Bosna Bank International made an impassioned plea to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to encourage Malaysian banks to capitalise on their expertise in Islamic financial banking and invest here.
He said Europes big financial groups were slowly moving towards that direction but they did not have the expertise and experience compared with Malaysia.
"And this is where Malaysia has the edge. You should move fast to benefit from the increasing interest in Islamic banking," he said when elaborating on his question to the Prime Minister during the Malaysia-Bosnia and Herzegovina Business Forum on Thursday.
Apart from Islamic banking, issues ranging from as diverse as terrorism and barter trade to halal and mineral water and health spa products were raised during Abdullahs dialogue with more than 700 Malaysian and Bosnian businessmen and captains of industry.
Bukvic said Malaysia was, in fact, indirectly represented in the country as his bank was established by the Islamic Development Bank of which the Malaysian government was among the owners.
However, he said, Malaysian banks should expand directly to the Bosnian market since it had a well established Islamic financial system covering banking, insurance, Takaful and other products.
The Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, right,shakes hands with his Bosnian counterpart Nikola Spiric,left, during his visit to Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on Thursday. (AP Photo/Hidajet Delic) He noted that there were 34 European banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, all of which were making huge profits as the financial sector was well regulated..
Their investments are in excess of one billion euros as the top few banks alone are worth around 100 million euros each, said Bukvic, who is an alumni of the International Islamic University in Petaling Jaya.
He added the state faculty was establishing an MBA in Islamic finance due to the rising interest in such products.
In his response earlier, Abdullah urged the Malaysian delegation to take note of Bukvics remarks about the prospects of expanding Islamic banking services to the country.
The prime minister stressed that Islamic banking was not exclusively for Muslims but for non-Muslims too.
He added that Malaysias commercial and foreign banks had Islamic windows while some Islamic banks specifically set up by businessmen or banks from the Middle East were doing very well.
Their support, he added, came not only from Muslims but non-Muslims as well as they wanted to take advantage of the Islamic banking and financial services.
By CHOI TUCK WO
SARAJEVO: Malaysia has been urged to expand its Islamic banking to Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the rising interest in such products and services, according to the countrys first Islamic bank CEO.
Amer Bukvic of Bosna Bank International made an impassioned plea to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to encourage Malaysian banks to capitalise on their expertise in Islamic financial banking and invest here.
He said Europes big financial groups were slowly moving towards that direction but they did not have the expertise and experience compared with Malaysia.
"And this is where Malaysia has the edge. You should move fast to benefit from the increasing interest in Islamic banking," he said when elaborating on his question to the Prime Minister during the Malaysia-Bosnia and Herzegovina Business Forum on Thursday.
Apart from Islamic banking, issues ranging from as diverse as terrorism and barter trade to halal and mineral water and health spa products were raised during Abdullahs dialogue with more than 700 Malaysian and Bosnian businessmen and captains of industry.
Bukvic said Malaysia was, in fact, indirectly represented in the country as his bank was established by the Islamic Development Bank of which the Malaysian government was among the owners.
However, he said, Malaysian banks should expand directly to the Bosnian market since it had a well established Islamic financial system covering banking, insurance, Takaful and other products.
The Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, right,shakes hands with his Bosnian counterpart Nikola Spiric,left, during his visit to Bosnian capital of Sarajevo on Thursday. (AP Photo/Hidajet Delic) He noted that there were 34 European banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina, all of which were making huge profits as the financial sector was well regulated..
Their investments are in excess of one billion euros as the top few banks alone are worth around 100 million euros each, said Bukvic, who is an alumni of the International Islamic University in Petaling Jaya.
He added the state faculty was establishing an MBA in Islamic finance due to the rising interest in such products.
In his response earlier, Abdullah urged the Malaysian delegation to take note of Bukvics remarks about the prospects of expanding Islamic banking services to the country.
The prime minister stressed that Islamic banking was not exclusively for Muslims but for non-Muslims too.
He added that Malaysias commercial and foreign banks had Islamic windows while some Islamic banks specifically set up by businessmen or banks from the Middle East were doing very well.
Their support, he added, came not only from Muslims but non-Muslims as well as they wanted to take advantage of the Islamic banking and financial services.
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