MGG71

(Terjemahan Rencana: Banks Claim BN Arm-twisted Them - BT Asia)

Bila Bank Dipulas-Tangan

Oleh Eddie Toh di Kuala Lumpur

Beberapa bank telah mencemek bank Negara Malaysia kerana menggunakan taktik memulas tangan dalam memaksa mereka untuk menandatangani perjanjian penyatuan dan agar mereka selesai bergabung pada hari Khamis yang lalu.

Pendekatan Bank Negara yagn keras ini adalah sebahagian usaha kerajaan untuk memperkecilkan saiz sektor kewangan di negara ini.

"Kami disuruh menunggu dalam sebuah bilik oleh Bank Negara dan diberitahu bahawa kami tidak dibenarkan keluar selagi perjanjian tidak dicapai. Kami telah diugut, dipujuk dan angan kami telah dipulas. Kami telah berbalah sehingga minit terakhir," demikian yang disebut oleh seroang pegawai bank kanan.

Pegawai bank itu akhirnya setuju menandatangani surat perjanjian jual-beli bank tersebut.

Bank Negara enggan membuat ulasan apabila dihubungi semalam.

Satu sumber perbankan telah berkata bank Negara terpaksa melakukan tindakan garang itu kerana pegawai bank sengaja melecehkan kerja itu semua selama ini. Pegawai perbankan Malaysia sengaja memperkecilkan usaha Bank Negara untuk menyatukan sektor perbankan yang terlalu banyak di mana terdapat 50 institusi kewangan sebelum itu.

Pada 1999, Bank Negara mengadakan satu kejutan di kalangan masyarakat perbankan apabila ia memilih enam bank untuk menyerap masuk institusi perbankan yang lain. Rencana ini telah menimbulkan kemarahan banyak pihak, terutama sekali setelah bank kecil seperti Multi-Purpose Bank dan Perwira Affin Bank dipilih untuk menyedut bank yang lebih besar seperti RHB Bank dan Kumpulan Arab Malaysian.

Selepas satu tempoh melobi oleh pihak yang bersungut itu, Perdana Menteri Mahathir Mohamad telah mengenepikan rencana asal pada akhir 1999 dan membenarkan semua bank mengenalpasti siapakah rakan penggabungan mereka.

Sepuluh kumpulan induk bergabung pada Februari tahun ini berasaskan desakan pasaran. Mereka ini termasuklah enam bank induk yang asal - Maybank, Multi-Purpose Bank, Bumiputra-Commerce Bank, Perwira Affiin Bank, Public Bank dan Southern bank.

Empat bank tamabahn adalah Kumpulan Perbankan Arab-Malaysian, RHB Bank, Hong Leong Bank dan Eon Bank. Walaupun wujud pendekatan persahabatan, beberapa kumpulan mengharungi tempoh getir untuk mencapai persetujuan sebelum berakhirnya bulan Ogos untuk melayakkan diri kepada pengecualian cukai dan insentif yang dijanjikan itu. Merek ini termasuklah Maybank dan Phileo Allied bank, Arab Malaysian dan Utama Banking Group, Perwira Affin Bank dan BSN Commercial, dan Multi-Purpose dan MBf Finance.

Walaupun semua 10 kumpulan perbankan itu sudah pun melepasi halangan pertama, ramai analis yang percaya mereka akan menghadapi satu beban menggabungkan operasi mereka sebelum Disember ini untuk memulakan operasi baru penggabungan itu bulan Januari hadapan.

Rencana Asal:

BT ASia

2 Sep 2000

Banks claim BN arm-twisted them
Some say central bank forced them to sign merger accords

By Eddie Toh in Kuala Lumpur

SOME bankers have blasted the Malaysian central bank for using strong-arm tactics to force them to sign merger agreements to meet the first deadline on Thursday.

Bank Negara's tough approach is part of the government's push to consolidate the overcrowded finance sector.

"We were holed up in a room in Bank Negara and were told that we could not leave until an agreement was reached. We were threatened, we were coerced and we were arm-twisted. And we argued until the last minute," claimed a senior banker.

The banker eventually signed the sales and purchase agreement to sell the bank.

Bank Negara declined to comment when contacted yesterday.

A banking source said Bank Negara had to resort to strongarm tactics as bankers have been dragging their feet for years. Malaysian bankers had long ignored the central bank's call to consolidate the overcrowded banking sector with more than 50 financial institutions.

In 1999, Bank Negara shocked the banking community when it handpicked six banks to absorb all the other financial institutions. But the plan angered many bankers, especially when small banks like Multi-Purpose Bank and Perwira Affin Bank were chosen to swallow much bigger banks like RHB Bank and Arab-Malaysian group respectively.

After intense lobbying by disgruntled bankers, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad scrapped the earlier blueprint in late 1999 and allowed the bankers to find their own merger partners instead.

Ten "anchor" groups emerged in February this year under the market-driven approach. They include the original six anchor banks -- Maybank, Multi-Purpose Bank, Bumiputra-Commerce Bank, Perwira Affin Bank, Public Bank and Southern Bank.

The four new additions were Arab-Malaysian banking group, RHB Bank, Hong Leong Bank and EON Bank.

Despite the friendlier approach, several groups have had a tough time in reaching a pact by the end of August to qualify for the promised tax breaks and perks.

They include Maybank and PhileoAllied Bank, Arab-Malaysian and Utama Banking group, Perwira Affin Bank and BSN Commercial, and Multi-Purpose Bank and MBf Finance.

Although all 10 banking groups have cleared a major hurdle, analysts said they now face the more daunting task of merging their operations by December and begin operating as merged entities next January.