Mashill, Brussels Lambert form alliance

Mashill, Brussels Lambert form alliance

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Mashill announced Saturday that Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL) of Belgium has bought a 10 percent stake of its outstanding shares from the public.

The bank said in a statement that with the purchase, the two banks would form a strategic alliance, creating a synergistic partnership in customers, network, products and technology.

With the alliance, the two banks would be better positioning themselves in catering to an increase in intra-Asian and Pacific rim trade as well as in anticipation for the era of globalization, the bank said.

According to the bank, as the region, and the world economy, moves toward a more open economy in terms of trade and financial services, in line with Afta by 2003 and WTO guidelines, the two banks are laying the foundation for future growth.

Bank Mashill, listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, has assets of more than Rp 1.65 trillion (US$687 million) and a network of 35 branches in Indonesia's seven major cities.

The bank's focus of operations is lending to the trading, industry and business services sectors while also providing consumer products like motorcycle loans, credit cards and home mortgages.

BBL is a leading bank in Belgium. Ranked by total assets ($100 billion), BBL is a global top-100 bank and number three in Belgium. The bank's core business areas are retail and professional banking, investment and merchant banking (including asset management) and international banking.

In its domestic market, BBL has about 1,000 branches and 300 fully automated Self-Banks based on the Bank's edge in information technology. Through specialized companies, BBL also provides services in the areas of insurance, leasing, factoring and travel. Internationally, BBL has operations in 28 countries, including the main financial centers of London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The bank has a subsidiary in Australia, representative offices in Bangkok, Beijing, Jakarta, Seoul and Tokyo and an equity participation in India's Vysya Bank. The activities in this region are managed from a Regional Head Office in Singapore. (13)