IslamicFinance.de

The planned amalgamation of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., RHB Capital Bhd. and Malaysia Building Society Bhd. has stalled as tumbling oil prices wreak havoc on the economy. The merger would have been the nation’s largest ever M&A transaction. Central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz first raised the idea of an Islamic finance megabank more than five years ago. A license slated to be awarded in 2011 for a multinational lender to be formed between Asia and the Middle East didn’t materialize, depriving the $1.7 trillion global industry of a growth engine. Nevertheless, RHB said in a statement that the parties were still in discussions.