A I S E H M A N . O R G

When Bank Negara was 'co-opted' to denied approval to SBB to buy over a Singapore Insurer strong in personal wealth management after having won a bid over Temasek, KJ's buddy down south, the writing is on the wall that SBB's direction to be a niche bank strong on wealth management for its clientele is numbered and coming to an end. And when no approval is forthcoming for another white knight with a higher and better deal for SBB shares coupled with the term of directorship for Tan ending this June unless Bank Negara agrees to another term, Tan like Taib Mahmud's son formerly of RHB, knows his position hinges on Bank Negara's whims and fancies courtesy of people calling the shots behind. Tan's mistake was picking the wrong people to take up the 30% or more Bumiputra quota shares upon listing on the KLSE. Now this example will wake up other investors whether to list on Bursa or other bourses elsewhere where nepotism are not so obvious. Tan's success story now becomes the success story of another which earlier had needed bailouts from the Government using Petronas funds. It is interesting to see in the long run whether the customers will migrate if the new corporate culture proves disappointing to their expectation from the old corporate culture. The takeover was premised on strengthening the CIMB Group weakness on the retail customers segments while its connections earn the group plenty from big deals linked to the powerful.

The government has been selling us this spiel that we must create larger entities through "forced" mergers to be able to withstand the foreign juggernauts. This line of thinking is awfully blinkered.

This has happened in the stockbroking, and the finance companies. While we tie the hands of our local entrepreneurs with archaic rules, we let the foreigners roam free. In our spirit of openness with the SGX, we are opening ourselves to be raped and pillage by the same foreigners who say who limit our access to their skies, and their agriculture markets.

I would venture to say that the mergers so far are aimed at concentrating the pie in the hands of an elitist few. Tan Sri TTH, who gave 20 years of his life building up SBB, had it yanked out of his hands.

Tan Sri TTH had to contend with KJ, Nazri, Sultan of Selangor, and also the BNM. Turn it into a race card, and he loses.

His tenure as CEO is to be "approved" by BNM. What a strange rule where the person who "owns" a bank still needs a regulator's permission to manage it. Shouldn't the shareholders decide that, now that BNM does not also guarantee our deposits totally?