Malaysia
Prime Minister Launches CIMB Group as a Regional Universal Bank, Declares Open First CIMB Bank Branch
By Press Release
Sep 7, 2006, 12:58

CIMB, the region's largest investment bank, today announced its transformation into a universal banking group called "CIMB Group".

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi launched the new CIMB Group and unveiled the Group's new logo at a launch ceremony today.

The Prime Minister then declared open the 1st CIMB Bank branch at Kuala Lumpur's Starhill Gallery. He was also the 1st customer to open an account with CIMB Bank and the 1st member of CIMB Club, its new priority banking service.

The launch of CIMB Group marks the culmination of the 3-way merger of Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad (CIMB), Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Berhad (BCB) and Southern Bank Berhad (SBB) to form a universal banking group.

As a universal bank, the CIMB Group has the full range of banking and financial services - conventional and Islamic - to serve everyone from the smallest retail client to the largest companies and institutions.

CIMB Group's transformation into a universal banking group started in late 2004 with the decision to create a strong and competitive universal bank anchored by CIMB.

It undertook mergers and acquisitions worth RM12.8 billion to transform CIMB into a regional universal banking group, including merger with Singapore stockbroker GK Goh, and landmark mergers with Bumiputra-Commerce Bank (BCB) and Southern Bank (SBB).

CIMB Group also recently announced an internal reorganisation of Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Berhad (BCHB) to consolidate BCHB's insurance businesses and PT Bank Niaga, its Indonesian bank, into CIMB Group.

In just 18 months, CIMB Group has grown from a staff strength of 1,000 in Malaysia to 20,000 in 12 countries. Its market capitalisation increased from RM6.3 billion to RM19.5 billion. The Group's total assets grew from RM14.7 billion to RM155 billion with a further RM18 billion being third party funds under management.

CIMB Group also paid tribute the 12 financial institutions which contributed to the Group's rich heritage which included banks such as Bian Chiang Bank, Ban Hin Lee Bank, Bank of Commerce and Bank Bumiputra as well as the thousands of people who contributed to their growth including the founders, employees, policy makers and regulators.

CIMB Group CEO, Dato' Nazir Razak said, "Our rich heritage risks fading into obscurity under the pressure of the forces of liberalisation and deregulation, unless we confront the challenges and seize the opportunities that the changes bring. It was in this frame of mind that we, at CIMB, aided by Bank Negara's Financial Sector Masterplan, looked forward and saw the future - a landscape being transformed by financial conglomerates that have large financial muscle, economies of scale and scope, and technically more experienced human talent. We had to change. We had to transform ourselves now or risk being marginalized. We had to act swiftly or miss our chance to fulfill the ambitions of our founding fathers."

Rebranding Exercise, Logo and Brand Entities
CIMB Group also announced its rebranding exercise in line with its vision "To be Southeast Asia's Most Valued Universal Bank". The Group's new tagline "Forward Banking" reflects its promise to create value for customers through forward thinking.

CIMB Group has 3 brand entities which emphasise the different ways that the Group interacts with its customers :

* CIMB Bank, the consumer banking arm, represents consumer banking, business banking and direct banking;
* CIMB Investment Bank (formerly Commerce International Merchant Bankers), the investment banking arm, represents investment banking, corporate banking, asset management and private banking; and
* CIMB Islamic (formerly Commerce Tijari), which exists as a comprehensive syariah-compliant parallel bank for all the products and services within the Group.

The 3 brand entities share a common logo with the CIMB Group. However, a unique feature is that the logos of the 3 brand entities are presented in 3 distinct colours to represent differing product ranges and market segments - red for CIMB Bank, blue for CIMB Investment Bank and green for CIMB Islamic. The logo reflects a combination of forward thinking, transparency and solidity, important characteristics of the Group' universal banking business.

CIMB Group CEO, Dato' Nazir Razak said, "Our new tagline "˜Forward Banking' and our call to action "˜Bank on us to see beyond' represent not only a new beginning, but also what we have brought along with us from the past - namely our paradigm of continual self-improvement, always with an eye to the future, always with the intent of value creation. "¦ So much lies ahead in our future as a regional universal bank. And we promise that the future will be consistently value creating for our stakeholders - our shareholders, regulators, staff and customers."

Opening of 1st CIMB Bank branch at Starhill Gallery
The opening of the 1st CIMB Bank branch at Starhill Gallery is an important milestone in the transformation of the consumer banking business of the CIMB Group.

This is more than just a mere change of name or logo. CIMB Bank represents the improved and enhanced consumer banking experience that customers can expect from the Group. The Group has already made great strides over the last 12 months in improving its consumer banking services, for example:

* Queue times at BCB branches have reduced from an average 11.84 minutes in the first 6 months of 2005 to under 3.23 minutes in August 2006.
* The average "time to drawdown" on mortgages has fallen from 110 days in 2005 to 55 days for loans accepted since June this year.
* The product suite at BCB and SBB branches has widened considerably.

The Group intends to rebrand its existing 269 BCB and 121 SBB branches as CIMB Bank over the next 12 months together. This will be accompanied by the raising of service standards and improvement of customer experience as the branches are converted to CIMB Bank. Some of the key features which CIMB Bank customers can experience at the new Starhill branch are:

* the introduction of CIMB Club, a priority banking service. CIMB Club customers enjoy the use of CIMB Club centre facilities, a high level of personalised service, preferential rates, access to tailored financial solutions and invitations to exclusive events, and
* the use of biometric equipment for account opening, which used with MyKad, will enable account opening to be done within 10 minutes or less.

Dato' Nazir Razak said, "In short, banking with our existing 390 branches is already better, and will get even better as they progressively convert to CIMB Bank."

New CIMB Bank branches will also be opened at The Curve, Genting Highlands, Serdang Perdana and Bukit Tinggi by the end of this year.

For more details, please contact Tengku Zarina Tengku Ibrahim, CIMB Group Corporate Communications at Tel: +603 - 2084 8950.

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