Mid-size lenders ask NBC to defer capital requirements

Central bank director has said there are no plans to push back a plan to triple registered capital by late 2010 to boost stability AS the deadline nears for each of the Kingdom's banks to raise their minimum registered capital to US$37.5 million, some mid-sized lenders have called on the central bank to push back its late 2010 deadline, citing the effects of the financial crisis.

However, the chief executive officers of Advanced Bank of Asia (ABA), Madi Akmambet, and Union Commercial Bank (UCB), Yum Sui Sang, both said their banks were eyeing ways to raise the required capital.

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) mandated in September that each bank boost reserve requirments from $13 million to $37.5 million effective from the end of 2010.Akmambet said the increase was justified to boost stability in the banking sector, but he questioned the timing, given that global credit had tightened considerably since the middle of 2008. Read More...