Kuala Lumpur: Affin Bank Bhd is still waiting for the Indonesian government to make a clear decision on foreign ownership in its banks. Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Datuk Zulkiflee Abbas Abdul Hamid said the agreement between Affin and PT Bank Ina Perdana for the former to acquire at least a 51 per cent stake in the Indonesian bank has been terminated by nature as the agreement expired last year .
"However, we are still keen to re-look at it once we are clear on the foreign ownership issue," he told the media after the launch of Affin Bank's new 24-hour online service, the Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB) Funds Top Up Service via its online banking website, affinOnline.com here Thursday.
He said the bank expects to attract about 10,000 customers, including 5,000 new ones, for its new ASNB Fund Top Up service by year-end.
Affin Bank is one of four banks in Malaysia to offer ASNB funds additional subscription online, and only the second bank to provide this as a 24-hour service.
He said the bank now offers 80 sen per transaction from now until the Aug 31, after which the normal fee of RM1 per transaction applies. The bank also has about 45,000 to 50,000 active users of its online services, which began in 2008.
Asked if its shareholder, Hong Kong-based Bank of East Asia Ltd (BEA), is interested to acquire more interest in Affin Holdings, he said: "Their stake has been growing but whether they will take it to the next level, that is something that we don't know.
"But we think they are pretty happy with the stake that they have right now."
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak hinted at the Invest Malaysia 2012 conference Wednesday that the current 30 per cent cap on foreign ownership of local banks could be raised in the near future.
BEA, which holds some 23 per cent of Affin Holdings, is the biggest foreign bank in China. - Bernama
