.jpg){kind=link}
The story
The bank was formed from the merging of various banks that had existed throughout the decades:
Bian Chiang Bank, established in 1924 in Kuching by Wee Kheng Chiang. Its primary activities were business financing and the issuance of bills of exchange. It was renamed Bank of Commerce Berhad (BCB) following its purchase by the UMNO-owned Fleet group, which was led by Tan Sri Halim Saad (then part-owner of TV3, NSTP and CelcomDigi) in 1979. The bank had RM367 million in total assets and total shareholders' funds of RM12.8 million in 1982.
Ban Hin Lee Bank (BHLB), established 1935 in Penang by Yeap Chor Ee. Its original focus was serving local businessmen in their trading and merchant activities. In the 1960s it branched out into real estate and home financing and by 1990 it had become a modern financial institution. It was then listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange on 7 January 1991.
Southern Bank Berhad (SBB): founded as Southern Banking Ltd in 1965, starting out in Penang and expanded to Kuala Lumpur. Its products included wealth-management products, credit cards and loans for small and medium enterprises (SME).
Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Berhad (BBMB), incorporated in 1965. Set up in line with government initiatives to increase Bumiputra participation in the national economy, the bank grew to be one of the largest, with branches throughout the country. By 1980 it had become the largest bank in the country in terms of assets and was the first domestic bank to have operations in New York, London, Tokyo, Bahrain and Hong Kong.
United Asian Bank Berhad (UAB), established in Kuala Lumpur in 1972. UAB created out of the merger of the Malaysian operations and branches of three Indian-owned banks: Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, and United Commercial Bank. The Government of India had nationalised the largest banks in India, including these three, and Malaysian law prohibited the operation in Malaysia of branches of government-owned foreign banks. UAB's primary purpose was to encourage enterprise among less prosperous sections of the country.
Pertanian Baring Sanwa Multinational Berhad (PBS); incorporated by Bank Pertanian, Baring Brothers, Multinational Bank of the United Kingdom, and Sanwa Bank of Japan in 1974. It was managed by Baring Brothers and provided corporate advisory and funding services to multinationals. It was renamed Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad (CIMB) in 1986 as a result of BCB replacing Bank Pertanian as the controlling shareholder of PBS. Corporate finance remained CIMB's main focus and stock broking was added to its range of services.
Bank of Commerce acquired UAB in 1991, in which consequently increased Bank of Commerce's branch network almost fourfold. The listed holding company was then renamed Commerce-Asset Holdings Berhad (CAHB). BBMB merged with CAHB to form the Bumiputra-Commerce Bank in 1999. SBB acquired Ban Hin Lee Bank Berhad and two smaller finance companies, Perdana Finance Berhad and Cempaka Finance Berhad in 2000 as part of a government initiated banking consolidation plan.
Read the full text
CIMB was listed on the main board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in 2003. In the same year, CIMB Islamic was launched providing customers with Syariah compliant solutions. A year later, it acquired 70% of Commerce Trust Berhad (CTB) and Commerce Asset Fund Managers Berhad (CAFM), leading to the formation of CIMB-Principal, a joint venture with the Principal Group of the United States. Then in 2005, CIMB acquired Singapore based G.K. Goh, which was established in 1979 as an international stock broker. This led to the formation of CIMB-GK, CIMB's international investment banking operations.
In 2005, CAHB announced a decision to create a universal bank by combining its commercial and investment banks. Following this announcement, Bumiputra-Commerce Group was acquired by CIMB. As part of the exercise, CAHB was renamed Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings and it completed its restructuring exercise in January 2006. The new CIMB Group was known as a universal bank. It made a transition to a full-service banking provider serving corporates to individuals. Then in March, CIMB Group acquired SBB after extensive negotiations. After the acquisition, on 7 September 2006, CIMB Group was launched by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
In 2007, CIMB Group launched its presence in both Thailand and USA through the establishment of CIMB-GK Securities (Thailand) Ltd. and CIMB-GK Securities (USA) Inc. In November, CIMB Foundation launched as a not-for-profit organisation that will carry out the group's corporate social responsibility.
2008: CIMB Group entered into an agreement for a 19.99% stake in Bank of Yingkou adding mainland China to the Group's network. In the same year CIMB Group undertook the merger of PT Bank Niaga TBK with PT Bank Lippo Tbk to create the sixth-largest bank in Indonesia. CIMB Group and the Principal Financial Group launched CIMB-Principal Islamic Asset Management also in that year. Lastly, CIMB Group entered into an agreement with Financial Institutions Development Fund to purchase a 42.13% stake in Bank Thai Public Company.
In 2009, CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic moved to a new headquarters, the 39-storey Menara Bumiputra-Commerce which houses CIMB Group's consumer banking franchises. The building site was the location of the bank's predecessors, Bank Bumiputra and the United Asian Bank. In the same year, CIMB Thai was officially launched with its new brand and logo unveiled to the public in May 2009 by Khun Korn Chatikavanji, Thailand's Minister of Finance. In September, CIMB Group set up retail banking services in Singapore through CIMB Bank Singapore.
CIMB Group expanded to Cambodia through the fully owned subsidiary CIMB Bank Plc in 2010. The first branch, which also serves as the headquarters, was officially launched in Phnom Penh on 19 November 2010. In 2012, CIMB Group purchased the Asian investment banking business of Royal Bank of Scotland, including the RBS franchise in Australia for GBP173.9 million (MYR849.4 million). CIMB claimed to become the largest investment banking franchise based in Asia Pacific (ex-Japan). CIMB ranked at 10 for the world's largest Islamic banks in 2020, moving up two spots from the previous year.
From Wikipedia’s article on CIMB, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4