Malaysia's top bank to operate in China

Malaysia's top bank to operate in China

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Top bank Malayan Banking Bhd. (Maybank)
has become the first Malaysian bank to get a licence to operate
in China, officials said on Thursday.

"Maybank has obtained a licence to establish a bank in
Shanghai as part of an reciprocal arrangement for the
reinstatement of Bank of China in Kuala Lumpur," a Chinese
embassy economic official told AFP.

She declined to elaborate.

Banking officials said Maybank would be the first local bank
to enter China and the move would further spur trading and
investment ties.

Maybank, which already has a representative office in Beijing,
declined to comment.

This week Malaysia's central bank said the state-owned Bank of
China would be allowed to resume operations in Malaysia after a
41-year break.

"With the re-establishment of BoC in Malaysia, it is hoped
that bilateral and trade ties between Malaysia and the People's
Republic of China would be further enhanced," Bank Negara
Malaysia said.

It said the Bank of China's licence to resume operations from
August 1 was granted "under special circumstances."

The Chinese bank began operating in then-Malaya shortly before
World War II but was closed down under a 1958 law which banned
banks controlled by a foreign government. The prohibition was
repealed in 1996.

Business Times said the Bank of China's local operations were
shut down in 1959 in an apparent move to stop it being used to
fund the communist insurgency.

It said the Chinese bank was expected to offer a complete
range of services ranging from trade financing to commercial
loans, along with deposit and savings account services.

Maybank already has 30 overseas branches, 22 of them in
Singapore. It also has a presence through subsidiaries in
Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

Maybank Philippines Inc. operates 60 branches throughout the
country.