Malaysia Reinstates Banking License to Bank of ChinaBank Negara (State Bank) Malaysia announced Tuesday its decision to allow Bank of China to recommence its banking operations in Malaysia with effect from August 1, 2000.The bank said in a statement that the reinstatement of a banking license to Bank of China is made under special circumstances and is in fulfillment of the following that Bank of China was operating in Malaysia before and had given up its license previously because of a legal requirement that prohibited a bank under the effective control of a foreign government to hold a banking license in Malaysia. The prohibitions was subsequently removed following the amendment to the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 in 1996, it said. It said Bank of China commenced operations in Malaya shortly before World war II with a branch in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Singapore. The bank's operations were closed when the Banking Ordinance 1958 was promulgated as the Ordinance stipulated that no bank which was under the effective control of foreign government should hold a banking license in Malaysia. This prohibition was subsequently embodied in Section 14 of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 but subsequently removed on August 2, 1996, it said. The central bank said with the re-establishment of Bank of China in Malaysia, it is hoped that bilateral and trade ties between Malaysia and China would be further enhanced. |
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