CIMB Group won top honours in the Best Change Management category in MIS Asia's 4^th annual MIS IT Excellence Awards 2006 for the Group's implementation of the Loan Process Transformation project at a ceremony held in Singapore recently.

CIMB Group initiated a Loan Processing Transformation (LPT) Project to address business challenges in its Consumer Banking business.  The project leverages on a Document Management and Imaging System and is part of the bank's strategy to improve the turn around time for loan applications. With the implementation of this project, documents are captured into images and are classified by type of documents and indexed for easy storage and retrieval through an enterprise wide content management system. The entire document cycle involves an embedded workflow which covers creation, review, approval, sharing and reuse of information across the organization. Verification and approval of loans can be done via electronic images anytime, anywhere over the bank's network. The implementation of the LPT project has provided economies of scale by centralizing loan operations, deployment of new technologies (i.e integrate imaging solution to loan system), reengineering loan processes and improving staff productivity. 

By redesigning the entire approach in the end to end loan processing, CIMB Group has achieved remarkable efficiencies. The implementation of the re-engineered workflows and the deployment of imaging & document system in the Loan Originating System had reduced cost of operations and increased the sales capacity of the loan officers and branches.

CIMB Group's LPT project will enable the bank's customers to experience quicker loan approvals, in some cases almost instantaneously and over 50% reduction in time from loan initiation to first disbursement. This new technology has positioned CIMB on par with world class loan processing standards.

"The LPT Project is a showcase in leveraging cutting edge technology to address a business need. This end to end reengineering and change management effort has raised our delivery capability to our esteemed customers. It's indeed an honour to receive this award considering the participants included leading companies in the Asian region, including Singapore, Hong Kong and India  - said Iswaraan Suppiah, Head of Group Information & Operations Division at CIMB.

The MIS IT Excellence Awards recognizes organizations for their outstanding achievements in business-driven IT, i.e on how organizations use IT to drive revenue, sales or other business-linked measurement. MIS Asia is Asia's largest IT management magazine, with an audited circulation of 10,478 IT chiefs in ASEAN and Greater China. This award was participated by top companies in the Asian region

About CIMB Group

CIMB Group (CIMBG) is the holding company of the Malaysian investment and commercial banking arms of Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Berhad, Malaysia's second largest financial services group.  Having completed the acquisition of Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Bhd on 11 January 2006, CIMBG is currently undergoing changes to transform itself into a "universal" financial services provider and is integrating its commercial and investment banking operations. CIMBG comprises 11 major subsidiaries, Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad, CIMB Discount House Berhad, CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd, CIMB (L) Limited, CIMB Futures Sdn Bhd, PT CIMB-GK (Indonesia), CIMB Private Equity, CIMB Principal Asset Management Berhad, CIMB Real Estate Sdn Bhd, CIMB -GK Pte Ltd and Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Berhad.

CIMB-GK Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CIMB Group, is the holding company for all the CIMB Group's non-Malaysian investment banking businesses. CIMB-GK offers institutional equities, retail broking, investment research and corporate finance; thus providing the regional complement to Commerce International Merchant Bankers existing product offerings.  For 2005, CIMB-GK emerged as the top IPO Adviser in Indonesia, ranked 2 on Singapore Stock Exchange, top 10 on Jakarta Stock Exchange and no. 2 in Rupiah bond dealing.

Commerce International Merchant Bankers is a fully integrated investment bank, offering the full range of services in banking, debt and equity markets and corporate advisory.  The investment bank also provides services in funds management, private equity, Islamic capital markets as well as research economics and the equity and debt markets. CIMB is South East Asia's largest investment bank and currently has 1049 employees.  It is a market leader in the Malaysian capital markets and has strong market presence in the secondary bonds, equity and derivative markets.