CIMB Group forms partnership with John Keells Stock Brokers

CIMB Group Holdings Berhad (CIMB Group) and John Keells Stock Brokers (Pvt) Ltd. (JKSB) yesterday announced a strategic collaboration to promote and facilitate trading on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and provide co-branded research for CIMB’s clientele.

JKSB, a founder member of the CSE and a subsidiary of John Keells Holdings PLC, the largest listed entity on the Colombo Stock Exchange, will be CIMB Group’s trade execution partner in Sri Lanka whilst supporting CIMB in its sales initiatives to generate trade flows to the CSE. As part of an agreement signed today, JKSB will also supply CIMB Group (ASEAN’s leading universal banking group) with research which will be disseminated to CIMB’s clientele globally under a CIMB/JKSB co-branded banner.  This new relationship expands CIMB’s global reach and widens JKSB’s access to foreign clientele and is expected to result in JKSB and the Sri Lankan market benefiting from increased visibility, particularly in the ASEAN region where CIMB continues to rank as the top player.  

“CIMB is newly present in Sri Lanka [since last August] and we were impressed by the level of industrial and financial activity in Sri Lanka and believe in its economic growth potential," Kong Sooi Lin, Deputy CEO, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd said.





"ASEAN countries and businesses are already significant trade and investment partners for the country, and as one of ASEAN’s leading financial institutions, we believe CIMB has a role to play,” said “We believe that this partnership with John Keells Stock Brokers will further facilitate trade and investments for our clients as well as between Sri Lanka and ASEAN,” she added.

“This new partnership between JKSB and CIMB has significant potential in attracting new foreign investors especially from the South East Asian region to the post war opportunities that Sri Lanka offers through the Colombo Stock Exchange” said Krishan Balendra, President, John Keells Stock Brokers.

CIMB Group is Malaysia’s second largest financial services provider and one of ASEAN’s leading universal banking groups. It offers consumer banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, asset management and insurance products and services. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, the Group is now present in eight out of 10 ASEAN nations (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Myanmar). Beyond ASEAN, the Group has market presence in China, Hong Kong, Bahrain, India, Sri Lanka, the US and UK.

With the largest branch network in ASEAN of 1,117 branches as at 31 December 2011, the bank is helmed by people from the region. It reaches at least 83% of the ASEAN population, representing 89% of the region’s GDP.

CIMB Group operates its business through three main brand entities, CIMB Bank, CIMB Investment Bank and CIMB Islamic. CIMB Group is also the majority shareholder of Bank CIMB Niaga in Indonesia, and the single largest shareholder of CIMB Thai in Thailand.

CIMB Group is listed on Bursa Malaysia via CIMB Group Holdings Berhad. It has a market capitalisation of approximately RM55.3 billion as at 31 December 2011. The Group has over 40,000 employees located in 14 countries.  

John Keells Stock Brokers is one of the leading brokerage houses in Sri Lanka and is a subsidiary of John Keells Holdings PLC, the largest listed entity on the Colombo Stock Exchange. With years of experience in stock brokering, JKSB has developed a large and balanced client base of foreign, institutional and retail investors. The company is widely known for its superior placement and order sourcing capability and is supported by a comprehensive research unit.  

John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) is the largest listed company on the Colombo Stock Exchange.  From managing the largest number of hotel rooms in Sri Lanka to owning the largest private-sector-owned transportation business in the country, tea broking to stock broking, banking to real estate, manufacturing of food and beverages to supermarketing, providing port and marine fuel services to IT solutions, JKH has made its presence felt in every major sphere of the economy.

Since its modest beginnings as a produce and exchange broker in the early 1870s, JKH has been known to constantly re-align, reposition and re-invent itself in pursuing growth sectors of the time, and is widely considered today a benchmark of the local economy. JKH is a full member of the World Economic Forum, and having issued GDRs, was the first Sri Lankan company to be listed overseas.

As a Member of the Global Compact – the UN-sponsored international corporate citizenship initiative – JKH is also committed to sustainable development and greater social responsibility in a multi-stakeholder context.  JKH has been assigned a AAA (lka) credit rating by Fitch Ratings Lanka Ltd.