Best bank: Maybank
Under the leadership of president Khairussaleh Ramli, Maybank has exceeded the broader industry performance and achieved several milestones this year, for which it receives the award for Malaysia’s best bank. With total assets exceeding RM1 trillion ($212 billion) and a remarkable 17.5% rise in net profit to RM9.35 billion in 2023, the bank has grown while delivering record dividend payouts. Profit before tax was up 5.6% and return on equity rose to 10.8% from 9.6% in the previous year.
Maybank has embarked on a comprehensive digitalization journey. The electronic know-your-customer account opening feature allows customers to open accounts remotely and it has also launched an Agile Customer Experience@Branch initiative. The success of this project prompted the bank to implement the concept across 347 branches in Malaysia. Within 30 weeks, Maybank saw the average account opening time decrease by 70%, from 51 to just 15 minutes.
Maybank has also taken significant strides to promote sustainability. It launched the first values-based credit card in Malaysia, myimpact, which is equipped with a built-in carbon footprint tracker and the ability to offset carbon.
Best investment bank: CIMB
CIMB has demonstrated remarkable resilience in a challenging market environment and is the worthy winner of the award for Malaysia’s best investment bank. Despite a 23% year-on-year drop in the overall Malaysian investment banking market deal value, CIMB’s total income increased by 4%. The bank’s market share by deal fee also grew from 13% to 14.8%, making it the only bank to increase its share of revenue while the overall investment banking wallet contracted by 8.6%.
The bank secured leading positions across the M&A, debt and equity capital market league tables. It played a pivotal role in several high-profile M&A transactions, most notably Sime Darby’s RM5.8 billion ($1.2 billion) acquisition and mandatory takeover of UMW Holdings Berhad.
This deal cemented Sime Darby’s position as Malaysia’s leading automotive player, expanding its presence in the country and bringing together major automotive brands under one corporate umbrella. CIMB also facilitated the merger between MBSB and MIDF, marking the first successful bank merger in Malaysia since 2018.
In the equity capital markets, CIMB showcased its expertise by participating in six out of the 10 largest Malaysian ECM deals in 2023, despite the challenging global market conditions. The bank was the sole Malaysian institution to lead and complete five Malaysian real estate investment trust primary placements totaling RM1.3 billion. Additionally, CIMB acted as the sole bookrunner for a series of block trades for an institutional vendor, raising RM2 billion in total proceeds.
CIMB maintained its position as the number one DCM bank in Malaysia with $5.9 billion in nominal deal value and a 29.3% market share in 2023. This dominant presence extends beyond Malaysia to key southeast Asian markets, including Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, where CIMB is also the largest environmental, social and governance bonds arranger by deal value for the year.
Best international bank: HSBC
In 2023, HSBC saw its market share of foreign investment into Malaysia reach 30% of total assets under management, making it the leading custodian and clearing bank for foreign institutional investors investing in country’s capital markets. HSBCnet Get Rate, which provides its Malaysian customers with automatic preferential FX rates, was upgraded to allow 24/7 FX booking for companies with EU and US headquarters.
New retail products included its TravelOne credit card, the first in Malaysia to allow customers to instantly redeem their card reward points. In addition, HSBC added a kill switch security feature to its card management tools, allowing customers to freeze their accounts when suspicious activity is detected.
Finally, the bank launched fully digital investment via its mobile app in August 2023. Following the launch, approximately 72% of new unit trust investment accounts were opened via the HSBC’s mobile channel.
Best international investment bank: UBS
UBS worked on important transactions in a range of sectors last year in Malaysia. These included the largest M&A transaction of the year, the largest Malaysian real estate investment trust primary placement and a large block placement.
The M&A deals included the $770 million sale of UMW Holdings to Sime Darby Enterprise and TimedotCom’s sale of 70% stake in its data centre business AIMS to DigitalBridge.
UBS was the joint global coordinator and joint bookrunner of Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust’s $160 million primary placement and placement agent for Mr DIY Group’s $60 million and $116 million block placements.
Best digital bank: Maybank
Maybank launched a range of new digital products and services in 2023, including payment methods and eligibility checkers.
The new Cross-Border QR Pay feature was launched in May 2023 and improved the cashless payments system for its customers travelling to Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. The feature was rolled out to more than eight million MAE app users and more than 700,000 QR Pay Malaysian merchants.
The bank’s Home2u service, a real-time mortgage eligibility checker, saw over 52,000 applications received with a 75% approval rate, resulting in disbursals exceeding RM11 billion ($2.3 billion) in 2023. Maybank also implemented new enhanced security features for transaction approval via its Secure2u Authorization for both its MAE app and M2U Biz app in 2023.
The M2U Biz app grew significantly over 2023 reaching 256,000 users representing 137,700 businesses, up from the 89,000 users and 55,800 businesses at the end of 2022. Additionally, the bank’s digital personal financing business approved over 9,900 applications totalling RM164 million.
Best bank for SMEs: Hong Leong Bank
Hong Leong Bank rolled out two new products for small and medium-sized enterprises last year, SMElite and SME Grow. SMElite is a term loan for property financing. SMEGrow is a microfinancing loan of up to RM200,000 ($42,600), which is available to companies that are less than three years old. This helped the bank grow its SME loan portfolio by 10.4% year on year to RM33 billion in 2023.
Hong Leong Bank also introduced effective cost of funds pricing as an alternative to the traditional base lending rate last year; and its Business Web Enhancement and Product Recommender were aimed at more efficient product enrolment by allowing its customers to register once for all products.
It launched an initiative with the Small and Medium Enterprise Association focused on helping SMEs build competitiveness through greening their supply chains.
Best bank for ESG: AmBank Group
AmBank Group demonstrated a strong focus on sustainability thanks to a series of impactful developments in its internal operations and client offering.
The bank progressed toward its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. In FY2023, it experienced a 93% decrease in carbon emissions against a 2019 baseline, exceeded its emission reduction targets.
Central to this result were a series of improvements to the bank’s internal operations. AmBank became the first financial institution in Malaysia to install solar photovoltaic panels on a building, specifically Damansara Fairway 3, while its Menara AmBank building earned a 2-star rating. AmBank also utilised carbon offset strategies, such as green electricity tariffs and renewable energy certificates to reduce its carbon footprint.
Additionally, the bank excelled in providing innovative ESG solutions to clients. A headline development was becoming one of Malaysia’s two preferred financing providers for Tesla, offering attractive auto financing packages for the Tesla Model Y.
The bank also actively financed green property development projects, including most notably the Penang Technology Park—an 880-acre sustainable industrial park featuring solar energy integration and advanced water management systems. Its involvement in this project also involved providing special financing packages to end-buyers.
AmBank’s efforts extended to sukuk issuances, as well, including facilitating a RM500 million Sustainable Islamic Medium-Term Note (IMTN) programme for SME Bank, a first for a Malaysian development finance institution.
To meet the growing demand for ESG-themed investments, the bank’s asset management arm enhanced its sustainable series funds offering with two additions—AmBon Islam and Global Lower Carbon Equity Fund.
The bank continued to support underserved businesses through financing and capacity building. It onboarded a high number of SMEs onto its Greening the Value Chain (GVC) programme, ran in collaboration with software provider Pantas. This initiative supported SMEs’ green transition by offering them free access to Pantas’ software for monitoring and tracking emissions.
Best bank for corporate responsibility: RHB Bank
RHB Bank launched a range of programmes last year targeting education, poverty reduction and inequality.
Among several education focused initiatives was the RHB X-Cel Academic Excellence programme, which targets students aged 15 to 17 from the poorest 40% of households. The programme reached 2,880 students, with 10 receiving the RHB X-Cel Star Scholarships.
The RHB Money Ma$ter programme aims to promote financial literacy among school students. It reached 10,828 students in 2023 and was formally endorsed by the Malaysian ministry of education.
RHB ran two substantial community engagement programmes in 2023 targeting youth empowerment and socio-economic issues. The Lifting Communities and Nurturing Future Generations programmes together benefited over 35,000 participants.
RHB Bank’s tree planting initiative saw 5,446 trees planted and its CM Programme aimed to improve the livelihoods of 50 fishermen in Kampung Rantau Panjang, providing them with financial assistance for infrastructure development. The bank invested over RM5 million ($1.07 million) in community engagement programmes in 2023.
Best bank for diversity and inclusion: Citi
Citi focused on gender equality in the workplace in 2023, instituting affirmative polices and increasing paid maternal leave, among other diversity and inclusion initiatives.
The bank’s total female employee representation stood at 62% at the end of the year, with 53% of leading executive roles held by women. Women constituted over 60% of overall new hires in 2023 and 45% of new hires at the assistant vice president level and above.
The Citi Women’s Network of Malaysia organized woodworking workshops in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in conjunction with International Women’s Day.
The bank ran a programme of disability etiquette and neurodiversity educational training for its employees throughout 2023. It also increased paid maternity leave to 16 weeks, more than the local requirement. Other benefit enhancements included paternity leave reaching four weeks and adoption leave totalling 90 days.
Best bank for corporates: OCBC
OCBC had a busy 2023, launching new FX features, application programming interface (API) integration and improvements to its online platform.
The bank introduced its comprehensive API service to facilitate a seamless collection process for its business clients. The service has achieved 300% year-on-year growth in its host-to-host transactions. OCBC also introduced 2023 FX Online in its corporate internet banking platform OCBC Velocity. This offers real-time streaming rates that allow users to book contracts instantly for overseas transactions.
The bank launched more than 10 new structured products across various asset classes tin 2023.
Deals included a RM555 million ($118 million) sustainability sukuk deal for Point Zone and a RM5.75 billion issue for Infracap Resources.
The bank held its first three-day educational workshop featuring FX simulation games and automation efforts that include the development of a product pricing bot and term sheet generator.
