MSIA'S CIMB PLANS TO BE LISTED ON THAI BOURSE BY YEAR-END

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Bernama) -- CIMB Group Holdings Bhd plans to be listed
on the Thai stock exchange by year-end to boost its brand presence in Thailand.

"It is likely to be (listed) by the end of this year," said group chief
executive Nazir Razak at the prospectus launch of the CIMB Exchange Traded Fund
(ETF) here Wednesday.

According to him, it is important to get coverage and attention of the
public for a listing with branding purpose.

Nazir also said that the underlying Thailand economy "is still pretty good"
despite what had been reported and seen.

"This is a secondary listing. We want to list and have this major exercise
at a time we can get the public attention and now we are assessing the
situation," he said.

"We want to make sure the situation is conducive for us to achieve the
branding objectives we have. So, we will let you know when we think the time is
right for that," he added.

CIMB is offering Malaysia's first offshore ETFs, the CIMB FTSE Asean 40
Malaysia and CIMB Xinhua China 25, to interested retail and institutional
investors. The funds will be listed on the local bourse on July 13.

Nazir said the two new funds reflected the group's commitment to enable
investors to gain exposure to the high growth economic prospects of Asean and
China.

"The two ETFs are vehicles for investors to participate in the overall
ascension of Asia and individually, the rapid growth of Asean and China," he
said.

The CIMB FTSE Asean 40 Malaysia will effectively feed into the world's first
and only Asean ETF -- the CIMB FTSE Asean 40-- which has been listed on the
Singapore Exchange since 2006.

It aims to provide investment results that track its benchmark, the
FTSE/Asean 40 Index.

The CIMB FTSE China 25, Malaysia's first China ETF, aims to provide
investment results that closely correspond to its benchmark, the FTSE/Xinhua
China 25 Index.

Both funds are managed by CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd.

Investors can start to subscribe to the CIMB FTSE Xinhua China 25 ETF (in
multiples of 1,000 units) at the initial issue price of RM1 per unit from June 9
to 23 prior to its listing while the CIMB FTSE Asean 40 Malaysia will be
available after the listing.

Asked whether CIMB planned to launch more funds this year, Nazir said
"obviously the pace will be dictated on the momentum created by the two newly
launched ETFs".

"We think it's a good asset class and we will see the response of Malaysian
investors over time and if they like it, we are happy to produce more of it," he
said.

In his speech, Nazir said the Malaysian government had successfully adopted
the "lab" methodology to get input for its national transformation agenda and
this ground-level consultative approach should perhaps be used for Asean
economic integration.

He suggested the setting-up of multi-Asean national labs across various
industries under the auspices of an Asean transformation secretariat.

"These labs would certainly dramatically raise the pace towards Asean
integration while at the same time ensuring sufficient rigours in discussions
and debates about the multitude of micro actions that will ultimately determine
its level of success," he said.

CIMB Group is Malaysia's second largest financial services provider and one
of Southeast Asia's leading universal banking groups.
-- BERNAMA



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