Bank Mandiri To Open First Branch In Malaysia

By Azeman Ariffin JAKARTA, June 14 (Bernama) -- Bank Mandiri, Indonesia’s leading commercial bank, will be opening its first branch in Malaysia within the next few months. According to a report in Indonesian newspaper, Koran Tempo, the Malaysian government, via Bank Negara Malaysia (Malaysia’s Central Bank), had given the green light to Bank Mandiri’s “Qualified ASEAN Bank” (QAB) status application recently. The newspaper quoted Bank Mandiri’s Chief Executive Officer, Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, as saying that the bank is currently finalising its proposals and that it was expecting to receive its operating licence by August this year. He said Bank Mandiri had allocated US$70.39 million (RM300 million) to fund the opening of its branch in Malaysia, adding that the bank would be injecting its capital in three stages, with an initial commitment of around US$23.46 million (RM100 million) or between US$50 million and US$60 million (US$1=RM4.26). Bank Mandiri was established by the Indonesian Ministry of Finance in 1998, in which the Indonesian government retained a 60 per cent stake, while the balance is owned by local and foreign shareholders. It is Indonesia’s largest bank in terms of asset ownership and funds and has 2,505 branches in the republic. -- BERNAMA