IslamicFinance.de

CIMB Group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak has ordered an internal inquiry on a senior executive of its Islamic banking unit who yesterday accused US-based Wall Street Journal (WSJ) of being duped by doctored documents in its explosive money trail exposé on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Nazir disclosed the action in a late night post on his Instagram account, after news portal Malaysiakini reported CIMB Islamic Bank chief executive officer Badlisyah Abdul Ghani for his erroneous analysis on WSJ in his closed-circuit Facebook page. Badlisyah has admitted to making an error in his analysis of the WSJ documents, which the daily purports were based on an ongoing government investigation on 1MDB, adding that he has also corrected his initial Facebook post.

Fitch Ratings has warned that a merger plan by Malaysia’s second largest bank CIMB Group with RHB Capital Bhd and Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) to create the country’s biggest lender is fraught with risks. Fitch said the merger could weaken capital buffers for CIMB if not funded by sufficient new equity, adding that any move to rationalise branches and staff could be “politically unpalatable”. Furthermore, weakening credit growth and asset-quality pressures in the overall banking system will not make the process any easier. On the other hand, a successful merger would provide a stronger domestic platform from which CIMB’s offshore aspirations could continue to expand.

Ireland has conducted its first Malaysian-managed fund platform. The Central Bank of Ireland has approved the establishment of CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management (Ireland) Public Limited: a joint venture between Kuala Lumpur headquartered CIMB Group and Principal Global Investors.
The newly created joint venture will uphold a range of international Islamic funds on the platform from its Dublin domicile. Three equity UCITS are being registered: Islamic Global Emerging Markets Fund; Islamic Asia-Pacific ex-Japan Fund, and Islamic ASEAN Equity Fund.
Once registered the funds will be spread in the UK, Switzerland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Singapore.