*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* { Sila lawat Laman Hizbi-Net - http://www.hizbi.net } { Hantarkan mesej anda ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED] } { Iklan barangan? Hantarkan ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] } *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* Undilah PAS : MENENTANG KEZALIMAN & MENEGAKKAN KEADILAN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Despair about wild policy swings Inconsistency makes investing impossible by Meera Tharmaratnam This article was published by the Singapore Business Times on 13 Oct 1999 HONG KONG - Foreign brokers and analysts virtually threw their hands up in despair yesterday at the latest policy pronouncement by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad about his country’s bank merger process. Brokers said it was unacceptable for the government to turn around and keep on reversing public policy. Constant policy flip-flops made it hard for them to advise their clients on stocks and harder still for them to interest clients in investing in Malaysia ahead of the country’s reinstatement in the benchmark MSCI index next year. "We’ve been saying first it was going to be six, now it’s going to be more but we’re not sure," said a UK-based broker. "Now Mahathir has changed tack again. It’s a problem. What we tell our clients is academic. Clients aren’t reacting. Trading in Malaysia is dead in the water." Brokers and analysts were reacting to the Malaysian premier’s remarks yesterday that the bank merger schedule was now flexible. Malaysia’s race to create its super banks was not just about the Quek Leng Chans and Rashid Hussains, brokers said. Many investors, small and large, accepted the government’s list of winners and losers at face value, and invested accordingly. Changing directions does not only rob these investors of thousands of ringgit, but denies long-term investors a stable investment platform, they said. "My clients bought into RHB Capital. Why? It had a low P/E, it had a good management team," said a broker. "Suddenly, it’s decided they’re not an anchor bank. The stock’s price collapses, my client takes huge losses. If selling right at the bottom isn’t enough, then we have London where the prime minister comes out saying six is an arbitrary number. "The stock surges. Can my client sue? It just reinforces that whatever you do, you’re at the whim of the Malaysian government." Brokers and analysts said the current mess meant the only sure bets were Malayan Banking, Commerce Asset Holding and Public Bank. Every other banking stock could be considered a punt, and that hardly fits most blue-chip fund managers’ portfolio requirements. That’s not even considering the merits of the controversial merger plan, as it originally stood. As several regional analysts said, it made no sense why Multi-Purpose Bank was taking over a banking group many times its size, or why the Chinese community ended up with only one bank. The fact that share prices of RHB Capital and AMMB fell to levels reflecting their break-up values underscored the market’s belief that dramatic transfer pricing would entirely favour the winners. Changing the rules halfway so the merger process reflects a fairer representation of interests doesn’t necessarily make things better. It doesn’t build goodwill with investors if they feel they are continually being short-changed, brokers said. "I had a client from UK on the phone the other day. His remark was ‘This is typical Malaysian government policy. It’s as clear as mud’," said a broker. Other brokers remarked that given the vagaries of politics, Malaysia will always trade at a discount to other markets in the region. Fund managers will always think twice about investing in Malaysia if they can get comparable returns in another Asian market, partly because it takes so much effort to keep up with all the political shenanigans. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( Melanggan ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body : SUBSCRIBE HIZB) ( Berhenti ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body: UNSUBSCRIBE HIZB) ( Segala pendapat yang dikemukakan tidak menggambarkan ) ( pandangan rasmi & bukan tanggungjawab HIZBI-Net ) ( Bermasalah? Sila hubungi [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pengirim: "Hoot Hoot" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>