23 May 2016
Kuala Lumpur: CIMB Bank Berhad (“CIMB Bank” or “CIMB”) and Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (“CGC”) today signed a MOU to offer up to a total of RM1 billion of Enterprise Clean Loan (ECL) as part of their joint initiative to nurture and develop Malaysian SMEs. The ECL is based on a customised Portfolio Guarantee (PG) product offered by CGC to CIMB Bank, to enable the latter to offer unsecured business loans to SMEs.
The MOU was signed by Renzo Viegas, Chief Executive Officer of Group Consumer Banking, CIMB Group and Leong Weng Choong, Chief Business Officer, CGC. It was witnessed by Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz, Group Chief Executive, CIMB Group and Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak, President and Chief Executive Officer, CGC.
The MOU marks the enhancement of an already successful strategic collaboration between CIMB Bank and CGC since 2015, by making available a further RM750 million for the ECL. CIMB Bank and CGC had earlier successfully launched three tranches of the ECL amounting to RM250 million.
Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz said, “We are pleased to renew our strategic partnership with CGC to promote the growth of Malaysia's SME sector. The ECL offers a financing amount of up to RM1 million per company with loan tenure of up to seven years. It requires no collateral, 48-hour approval and disbursement within 24 hours, giving companies faster and easier access to the funds they need to grow their business. The Malaysian SME sector, expected to contribute 41% to the country’s GDP by 2020, is one of the focus areas under the bank’s T18 Strategy. To this end, CIMB Bank has also developed other solutions like business advisory to empower SMEs through the different stages of their business cycles. With our expertise and well-developed understanding of the ASEAN market, CIMB can also facilitate the regional growth of these SMEs.”
"Our strategic partnership with CIMB Bank today has created another avenue for us not only to provide greater access to financing for SMEs, but also to leverage on CIMB Bank's enterprise business solutions and extensive network of branches to expand our SME outreach nationwide," said CGC's President / Chief Executive Officer, Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak.
“CGC has played a vital role as a financial intermediary to bridge the financing gap between the financial institutions (FIs) and the SMEs through its array of products and services. The strategic partnership that we are strengthening with CIMB Bank is an on-going initiative pursued to further enhance our collaboration with financial institutions to create alternate financing options for SMEs via our award winning PG scheme. Since PG's inception in 2009, we have availed a total of RM4.6 billion worth of financing via 14 participating financial institutions. Further, over the last 44 years, CGC has issued 437,000 guarantees and financing for SMEs worth about RM59 billion and continued to play its role in advancing Malaysia's SME agenda,” added Zamree.
CIMB Bank’s SME-focused enterprise business solutions, built for simplicity and convenience, consist of three pillars, namely differentiated solution, business enablers and advisory services. The products and solutions offered under these solutions include assistance in financing (for property and unsecured working capital), in cashflow management (current accounts and UNfixed deposits) and in business operations (Clicks/BizChannel, Plug&Pay, C@W).
