...On 28 April 2009 Malaysia unveiled new measures to further open up the financial sector, continuing its efforts under the Financial Sector Masterplan aimed at attracting more foreign investments, adding diversity to the development of products and services, and raising the level of expertise in the sector. To be implemented over three years from 2009, some of the key measures announced included: the lifting of the foreign ownership limit to 70% (from 49%) for investment banks, Islamic banks and insurance companies; issuance of new banking licenses, of which five are for commercial banks; and allowing locally incorporated foreign banks to open up to 10 microfinance and four new full branches during 2009 and 2010, respectively. However, the 30% cap on foreign ownership for commercial banks remains. Fitch Ratings believes that the immediate impact for the nine domestic banking groups is likely to be limited, not just because the foreign ownership cap for commercial banks is unchanged, but...
