KUALA LUMPUR: Merger talks between Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp (Malaysia) Bhd and Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) are ongoing.
"The due diligence takes time. We have to study their accounts. Bank Negara Malaysia is giving us three months," said MIDF group managing director Datuk Charon Mokhzani.
On January 10, the central bank approved MIDF and its sole shareholder Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) to start negotiating with Al Rajhi Malaysia for a proposed merger.
If the merger materialises, MIDF's scope will expand from just being an investment bank to a universal Islamic bank with combined assets of more than RM2.5 billion, depending on the structure.
Charon was speaking with reporters after Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) Yeo Bee Yin participated in the Greenification of Malaysia dialogue session organised by the Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) here today.
Malaysia has always aspire to be a global centre for Shariah-compliant financial services.
As early as 2004, Bank Negara granted licences to Kuwait Investment House, Al Rajhi and a group led by Qatar Islamic Bank to start Islamic banks here.