TWO banking groups and a non-bank financial provider have received the approval from Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd to suspend trading of their securities today.
In separate filings to Bursa Malaysia, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) and RHB Capital Bhd said the trading suspension of their shares will take effect from 9am to 5pm.
All of them cited pending material announcements for the trading suspension.
CIMB Group is the country’s second-largest bank by assets while RHB Capital Bhd (RHBCap) is Malaysia’s fourth-largest financial services group.
Property financing firm MBSB, last year was reportedly in the process of transforming into a full-fledged bank before it gets approval from Bank Negara Malaysia for its application for a banking licence.
Industry observers revisited previous speculations on the merger between RHBCap and MBSB, both sharing a common shareholder — Employees Provident Fund (EPF), after the late announcement yesterday.
It was previously speculated that the EPF was considering buying the 59 per cent stake in RHBCap that it does not already own and privatise the banking group to pave the way for RHBCap’s merger with MBSB.
EPF owns about 60 per cent of MBSB.
However, in the middle of last year, EPF chief executive officer Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan was quoted as saying that the fund was not “currently” planning a buyout of RHBCap.
However, he added, “Anything is possible in the future. We get proposals all the time, but very few of them end up being considered seriously.”
With the CIMB shares also suspended today, another speculation emerges.
CIMB’s major shareholder is Khazanah Nasional Bhd, with a 30 per cent stake.
Industry observers do not dismiss the possibility that EPF may sell its interests in RHBCap and MBSB to Khazanah for the merger of these three financial providers.
They said this could be the start of another round of financial consolidation in the country’s financial sector as the players are gearing up for higher capital requirements under Basel III rules.
