CIMB opens office in Brunei

CIMB opens office in Brunei

Shanthy Nambiar, Bloomberg, Bangkok

CIMB Bhd., the investment banking unit of Bumiputra-Commerce
Holdings Bhd., Malaysia's second- largest bank, has opened an
office in Brunei to expand its banking services outside Southeast
Asia's third-biggest economy.

CIMB Brunei will provide investment banking and Islamic
financial services in Brunei, the bank said in an e-mailed
statement. Brunei, a sultanate of about 357,800 people, is the
third-largest oil producer in Southeast Asia and Islam is the
official religion, according to the government's Web site.

"Our presence in Brunei is a testimony to our commitment to
regionalization and in particular the development of regional
Islamic banking," CIMB's Chief Executive Nazir Razak said in the
statement. "Brunei and Malaysia share a common aspiration in
developing Islamic banking."

Malaysia is the biggest issuer of Islamic securities in the
world, ahead of Bahrain. Sales of Islamic bonds by Malaysian
companies has totaled 21.9 billion ringgit (US$5.8 billion) in
the first nine months this year, compared with 9.1 billion
ringgit in the whole of 2004, government figures show. About two-
thirds of the nation's 26 million people are Muslim.

Islamic law, or Shariah, doesn't allow interest payments and
bans investment in businesses such as gambling, alcohol and
tobacco. CIMB, Malaysia's biggest investment bank, ranks first
among Islamic debt underwriters in the world so far this year,
handling $1.2 billion of sales, according to Bloomberg data.
Dubai-based HSBC Amanah, a unit of HSBC Holdings Plc in the U.K.,
was in second place with $1.1 billion in sales.

Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings on Nov. 17 said third-quarter
profit surged 70 percent to 245.5 million ringgit after it earned
more from lending and reaped the first gains from its Singapore
broking unit.

The group has a 63.4 percent stake in Jakarta, Indonesiabased
PT Bank Niaga. In June, it bought brokerage G.K. Goh Holdings
Ltd. in Singapore to reinforce its domestic operations and expand
financial services elsewhere in Southeast Asia. G.K. Goh also
gave Bumiputra-Commerce a foothold in the stock broking business
in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, the U.K. and U.S.