MALAYSIAN BANKS ABLE TO MEET BASEL III REQUIREMENTS, SAYS ECM LIBRA

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysian banks will be able to meet the
new capital requirements under Basel III without the need to raise capital
and/or trim dividend distribution.

In a report Tuesday, ECMLibra Investment Research said certain banks with
common equity ratio of just marginally higher than the required seven per cent
threshold may adopt a more prudent stance and shore up their common equity
capital.

"Public Bank and AMMB with common equity ratio of 7.6 per cent and 7.7 per
cent respectively fall into this category," it said.

ECM Libra said it was positive of the development as the uncertainty of
Basel III capital requirements was now out of the way and most importantly, the
impact on Malaysian banks was expected to be negligible.

It said it would maintain its 'overweight' stance on the banking sector,
premised on strong loans growth, sustained growth of non-interest income and
slide in credit costs.

"Our top pick is Maybank as we believe its recent strong quarterly results
may finally allay sceptics' concerns over its regional expansion plans and it
stands to benefit from strong credit expansion within South-East Asia," it said.

ECM Libra said the key risk for the sector was slower-than-expected loans
growth due to imposition of lending restriction on mortgage and credit card
loans by Bank Negara Malaysia.
-- BERNAMA