RHB Islamic Bank opens its doors to customers

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16, 2005: RHB Islamic Bank Bhd (“RHB Islamic Bank”) officially began operations today, making it the first Islamic Banking Window operations to become a standalone Islamic bank in Malaysia.

The new bank is also the first full-fledged Islamic bank that is also a part of a commercial banking and financial services group. RHB Islamic Bank is a subsidiary of RHB Bank Bhd (“RHB Bank”), which, in turn, is a 70% owned subsidiary of RHB Capital Bhd (“RHB Capital”).

RHB Capital is the third largest financial services group in Malaysia, with diverse interests not only in banking but also in merchant banking, insurance, securities, unit trust, futures trading and asset management.

Prior to the formation of RHB Islamic Bank, RHB Bank offered Islamic banking products and services through its Islamic Banking Window (SPI).

Chief Executive Officer of RHB Islamic Bank, Mr Khalid Mahmood Bhaimia, said the smooth transition from the SPI to RHB Islamic Bank underscored the tremendous effort over the past nine months.

With the commencement of business at RHB Islamic Bank, the 700,000 customers of RHB Bank’s SPI have now become customers of the new bank. They will be able to get all the products and services of RHB Islamic Bank at any of the 208 RHB Bank branches and more than 500 ATMs across the country.

Customers will be able to continue using their RHB Bank passbooks and cheque books until they apply for new ones from RHB Islamic Bank.

“I would like to assure customers that all our banking operations at RHB Islamic Bank will proceed smoothly. In fact, customers will not even feel that there has been a change,” Mr Bhaimia said. “I am happy to say that it’s all systems go.”

In July 2004, Bank Negara Malaysia granted the RHB Group a licence to operate a full-fledged Islamic bank, making it one of the first two commercial banking groups to receive such licences.

On March 1, 2005, Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz officially handed over the new licence to RHB Capital Executive Chairman Dato Sri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib. She also officially launched the RHB Islamic Bank.

Mr Bhaimia said RHB Islamic Bank would be broadening its product base, from the 22 currently offered by the bank. “We also want to provide customised solutions to our customers,” he said. “We want customers with whom we can have a substantive relationship.”

On the issue of foreign participation in RHB Islamic Bank, Dato Sri Sulaiman said negotiations with Dallah Al Baraka (Malaysia) Holdings Sdn Bhd (“DARM”) were in progress. “We expect to conclude negotiations, hopefully, by June this year,” he said.