Shareholder Group Reckons that Malayan Banking Directors Should Quit!

Interesting article published on Business Times, 'Maybank directors have to go if deal falls through'

• 'Maybank directors have to go if deal falls through'
  
  Published: 2008/08/07
  
  The Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group says it is against the BII deal for three reasons: the bank was late in entering the market, the pricing and the timing
  
  THE directors of Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) should be held responsible if the PT Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) deal falls through and RM480 million deposit is forfeited, the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG) said yesterday.
  
  "They (the directors) should resign. No question. If it happens (Maybank loses the deposit), the whole board has to go. It's my money, it's the rakyat's money.
  
  "We were against the deal (for three reasons). Number one, they were late (to enter the market), others have already gone in. Number two is the pricing. Number three, timing ... you could have gotten (it) cheaper (when market goes down). What's the hurry?
  
  "Before you go into any venture, you have to assess the risk," MSWG chief executive officer Abdul Wahab Jaafar Sidek said in Kuala Lumpur.
  
  He believes Maybank should not get compensation from Bank Negara Malaysia, if the deal fails to go through.
  
  Abdul Wahab, however, agreed that Maybank chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar should be excluded from blame as he came on board after the acquisition was announced.
  
  Meanwhile, in an apparent response to MSWG's comments, Maybank said in a statement later yesterday that its board of directors "had conducted itself professionally in the best interest of the bank and its shareholders, adhering at all times to standards of good governance and integrity.
  
  "The proposed acquisition has been evaluated and considered by the board as a strategic initiative to strengthen Maybank as a regional bank," it added.
  
  Maybank said the proposal was presented to shareholders in an extraordinary general meeting on May 15, where they voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed acquisition.
  
  "As explained in an earlier announcement to Bursa Malaysia on July 29, the move by Bank Negara Malaysia to revoke its earlier approval for the proposed acquisition of BII followed the recent changes of the new regulation on Take-Over Rule IX by Badan Pengawas Pasar Modal dan Lembaga Keuangan, which was enacted on June 30 2008" it said.

I fully agree and I will go one step beyond and recommend that the directors should be sacked immediately!

Hey if you do agree, do post a simple comment on this blog posting, ok?

The whole deal was so shambolic!

Well I am not going to say more since many had been written on this utterly appalling and shambolic deal.

Here's one good posting: Just The Facts, Ma'am - Maybank's Purchase