Banking

Afifth Malaysian bank is slated to launch in Cambodia later this year after receiving approval from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), according to NBC Director General Tal Nay Im. The NBC granted approval in principle for the CIMB Group to set up and operate banking services in Cambodia, Tal Nay Im told the Post Monday. “The approval is the first step to enable the bank to prepare itself to open branch in Cambodia,” she said. “So when the group is ready to set up its operations in Cambodia within six months, we will issue CIMB the licence.” CIMB would become the 28th commercial bank in Cambodia. “We are excited about the long-term prospects for the Cambodian economy. We believe we can contribute to the development of the domestic banking market while facilitating more trade and investment flows between Cambodia and other ASEAN markets,” CIMB Group Chief Executive Nazir Razak, was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency. Eang Sophalleth, spokesman for Hun Sen, said Monday that the prime minister agreed during bilateral trade talks that CIMB Group be given a licence to offer banking services.