Maybank to expand investment banking business regionally

Maybank plans to expand its investment banking business in Southeast Asia after the segment registered a 49% surge in fee-based income to RM292mil.

This follows the purchase of Kim Eng Securities which provided an enlarged platform for advisory and corporate work in the large financial markets of Hong Kong, London and New York.

“We plan to do more outside Malaysia like in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand and to some extent, in the Phillipines,” says Maybank president and CEO Datuk Seri Wahid Omar.

“For example, the team at Kim Eng Philippines is working well with our corporate bankers there and that synergy has resulted in mandates being won, some of which will be executed in the current financial year,” he tells StarBizWeek.

“With Kim Eng coming into the picture, we can now continue to service customers across various markets, be it loans, debt capital or equity capital markets,” says Wahid.

Through its acquisition of Kim Eng, Maybank IB now has a presence in six out of 10 Asean countries.


Maybank IB and Kim Eng are embarking on a two-year merger plan divided into three phases that involve establishing the merger framework; conducting integration planning and execution of integration plans.

“We want to be number one in the region,” says Wahid, referring to a three-year road map where in 2012, the aim will be to stabilise operations, in 2013, it will be about capturing more synergy in the home markets and by 2014, it will be to work towards regional leadership position.

Come 2015, the target is to be the number one Malaysian investment bank and top five among regional investment banks.

“When it comes to equities broking, we want to be among the top three brokers in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and the Phillipines,” says Wahid.

In view of upcoming competition among existing investment banks like the successful CIMB Group, Wahid says: “We are game for it.”