HLB Leads The Local Commercial Banking Industry

Hong Leong Bank Leads The Local Commercial Banking Industry With Launch Of Structured Products

Hong Leong Bank today once again takes the lead in Malaysia’s financial services industry as it launches its structured products known as the Precious Gemstones Series. Being the first local commercial bank in the country to officially launch structured products, Hong Leong Bank stands at the forefront of a new era in the Malaysian financial market to introduce a range of innovative tailor-made investment products and solutions for retail consumers.

Recognizing the need to meet its customers' growing demand for alternative asset classes that offer good returns, Hong Leong Bank is proactively answering into its customers’ needs. According to Ms Yvonne Chia, Group Managing Director of Hong Leong Bank, with Bank Negara Malaysia’s move to lower the minimum allowable investment size for structured products from RM1 million to RM250,000, the appetite for alternative asset classes, including structured products, is certainly expanding.

“We are very proud that Hong Leong Bank is the first local commercial bank in Malaysia to offer structured products to the Malaysian market. Our structured products launch underscores our commitment to serving our customers’ financial needs in order to help them achieve their financial goals,” added Ms Chia.

In the face of competition and liberalization in the banking sector, Hong Leong Bank has much confidence in its wealth management and treasury products and services as emerging and exciting new ways to optimize its relationship with its customers. “The launch of structured products by Hong Leong Bank is very much part of the journey to deliver a differentiating proposition to our customers and create a franchise that rewards our shareholders with superior value,” said Ms Chia.

In major financial centers like New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, structured products have already been made widely available to retail and institutional customers, and recently in Malaysia, with the issuance of structured products guidelines from the Securities Commission and ECM (Exchange Control Malaysia) liberalization by Bank Negara Malaysia. Hong Leong Bank, with its HL Markets (Treasury Division) integrated treasury and risk management systems, now has the technology, know-how and capability to offer customers competitively priced structured products at each of the Bank’s branches and Priority Banking centres.

In recent years, the nation’s more affluent investors have sought sophisticated investment alternatives in order to not only widen their choice but to diversify their personal investment portfolios. Recognizing this need, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission have taken active steps to liberalize product development and ECM guidelines, in order to further develop the local financial markets.

With technical descriptions like Callable Range Accruals, Callable Ladder Inverse Floaters, Range Binary Currency Investment, European Digital Currency Investment or even Wedding Cake, structured products can come across as being a bit too bewildering and hence risky for many consumers and bankers alike. “To give these products more customer-friendly names, Hong Leong Bank has done away with the technical lingo and named our interest rate and foreign currency-linked structured products, “Jade” and “Pearl” series respectively, thus we have the umbrella name – Precious Gemstones Series,” said Ms Moey Tan, Chief Operating Officer, Personal Financial Services Division, Hong Leong Bank. “Since its launch, the Jade series has received good response from our customers and we are confident that they will be very receptive to these new additions that we are introducing to them.”

“Whilst presently confined to Jade and Pearl series of structured products, going forward the Bank’s product offerings will be increased to give customers a wider selection of commodities, instruments and markets in which to invest in and personally benefit from. Moving forward, we envisage growth in this market segment and will continue to play our role as our customers’ choice investment partner by giving them valued added propositions,” added Ms Tan.

Press Release - 23/02/2006