Malaysia

Bankers and investors in Kuala Lumpur continue to live in the shadow of the scandal.

The bank’s regional expansion has been challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic. But its chief executive sounds an optimistic note – seeing opportunity in a moment of volatility.

The country’s economy has not been this hard hit since the Asian financial crisis. Political instability, global tensions and weak productivity mean the recovery is going to be slow – and painful.

It’s easy to approach Maybank’s stated ‘mission to humanize financial services’ with a sense of cynicism. It sounds like the sort of thing conjured up by a mid-level strategy team to polish an annual report or two. But a look at the bank’s community outreach programmes shows that those are not empty words.

Hong Leong Bank (HLB) has endured a lot in its 115-year operating history: two world wars, the Great Depression, a string of modern financial crises. But Covid-19 offers a unique problem for a bank that has become increasingly committed – and, as a result, exposed – to Malaysia’s small and medium-sized enterprises.

Picking Malaysia’s digital champion in the coronavirus age is even more difficult than usual. Every financial institution is racing to adapt to customers’ needs to avoid brick-and-mortar facilities and ATMs. Call-centre operations face unprecedented upheaval thanks to a work-from-home zeitgeist that few saw coming.

HSBC’s response to the coronavirus in Malaysia deserves plaudits. The bank, run by Malaysia chief executive Stuart Milne, was the first in the country to announce that both the interest for conventional loans as well as profit on Islamic financing would not be compounded during the moratorium period.

If any institution in the region embodies the universal bank concept it is CIMB, which has been led by Abdul Rahman Ahmad since June. What a year to take the hot seat.