KUALA LUMPUR – After a two-day trading suspension, AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank) share prices plummeted as much as 16% at the opening today.
This comes after the Finance Ministry last Friday announced a RM2.83 billion fine for the bank’s role in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) financial scandal.
AmBank had requested a trading suspension of its shares on Monday and Tuesday.
At the opening today, AmBank’s share price stood at RM2.65 compared with RM3.16 at closing last Friday, plunging 16.1%.
However, as of 9.58am, its share price climbed to RM2.82.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia last Friday, the bank said a provision for the fine will be recorded in the final quarter in the group’s financial year ending March 31.
“While this will have a material impact on the current year’s profitability, there are adequate capital buffers to absorb this settlement without an immediate need to raise additional equity capital.”
It added that would translate to a loss of 93.89 sen per share.
The company will not be proposing any final dividends for the year ending March 31 as a result of the 1MDB fine.
AmBank has come under fire over its role in the 1MDB financial scandal, in which former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was found guilty of corruption and money laundering last year over former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd.
He was accused of transferring millions of ringgit from SRC International into his personal AmBank accounts between 2014 and 2015. He has appealed the court’s ruling.
The Finance Ministry said in a statement that Malaysia’s securities regulator will require AmInvestment Bank Bhd to take corrective measures, including putting in place systems and processes to strengthen its due diligence framework, as part of the settlement.
The payment will also be used to help settle 1MDB’s outstanding obligations, it added. – The Vibes, March 3, 2021
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