[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 17 Aug 1999
Time: 20:00:24
Remote User: -
Malaysia's forced bank mergers cause jitters among workers
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 (AFP) - Malaysian bank employees on Tuesday raised fears about their future following the government's forced merger of the country's financial institutions.
"The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) is very much concerned over the recent announcement by Bank Negara to 'force' the banks and finance companies to merge," G. Gopala Krishnan, union general secretary, said in a statement.
"NUBE is concerned that very little has been stated on the fate of the 70,000 bank workers in these institutions earmarked for mergers," he added.
Gopala said that while the mergers might bring about strong banks to meet foreign competition, very little had been said about the fate of employees.
"Forcing 21 local banks and many finance companies and merchant banks to become six large banks would mean numerous cultures and systems being made into one," he said.
"It will cause extreme difficulties and anxieties to the workforce and customers."
The government has recently stepped up pressure on the 21 local commercial banks, 25 finance companies and 12 merchant banks to merge into six entities.
The union also expressed concern about whether rural residents would have access to banks after the downsizing.
Gopala also pointed out the dangers to the economy with a few large banks.
"In a market which had smaller number of larger banks, the risks of individual bank failures might be less but if a bank failed in such an environment, the failure was more likely to have flow-on economic effects," he said.