CIMB eyes Phl entry

MANILA, Philippines - Malaysia’s CIMB is looking for a mid-sized Philippine bank for its second attempt to enter the local market.

“We have continued to be on the search for the right way of entering the Philippine market,”  CIMB chief executive Nazir Razak said during a forum Wednesday night hosted by the Ayala Group.

Talks between CIMB and Philippines’ Bank of Commerce fell through last year, and later in 2013, media reports stated the Malaysian lender was now considering acquiring Philippine National Bank.

 â€œOur options are a little limited in a sense that we want to buy a platform that can be fully integrated with the CIMB ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) platform. So we would be looking at the mid-tier space as opposed to the large banks here,” Razak said.

Last week, Congress approved on third and final reading the bill allowing foreign players to fully own banks in the country.

“We need to look at how that evolves as well. We’re looking at all our options in entering the Philippine market and the only thing that troubles me is there are some very good Philippine banks… so we have to strategize as well,” Razak said.

The Philippine economy grew by 7.2 percent last year, sustaining the 6.8-percent expansion in 2012. Together with its sound macroeconomic fundamentals, the country has been an attractive destination in the region especially with recent credit rating upgrades given by global debt watchers.

Razak is in the Philippines with members of the ASEAN Business Club to present to President Aquino concerns about economic integration and how governments need to remove the remaining barriers to allow the private sector to better take advantage of the opportunities in the region.

 â€œWe are seeking the support of the Philippine government to work the other governments to resolve some of the key issues ahead of the AEC (ASEAN economic community)… As a business, we need to plan ahead. Today, unfortunately, there’s a lack of clarity what can be achieved by 2015,” Razak said.

 â€œFrom a banker’s perspective, we are still awaiting what is known as the Qualified ASEAN Bank framework and that is quite key in order to bring down some of the restrictions in cross border banking,” Razak said.