Mergers and acquisitions of banks in Malaysia

The recent wave of mergers and acquisitions in the financial institutions all over the developed nations has also taken its toll in Malaysia. Factors such as globalization, liberalization and information technology developments have contributed to the need for a more competitive, resilient and robust financial systems in Malaysia. This is added by the recent 1997 Asian financial crisis, which contributed for speeding the mergers and acquisitions process in the Malaysian banking sector. The end result is the formation of ten anchor banks from a total of 54 financial institutions as at end of 2001. This paper has explored the causes and the process of the mergers and acquisitions as well as the future implications in the Malaysian banking system.