Fitch sees Malaysian CIMB mega bank merger \\\'risk\\\'

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (AFP): Ratings agency Fitch warned on Monday that a merger plan by Malaysia's second largest bank CIMB Group with RHB Capital and Malaysia Building Society to create the country's biggest lender was fraught with risk.

"The proposed merger of CIMB, RHB and Malaysia Building Society (MBSB) is ambitious, and will bring inherent challenges and risks for the new banking group amid a complex integration process," Fitch Ratings said in a statement.

Last week, CIMB, RHB Capital, which is Malaysia's fourth largest bank, and MBSB said they had entered into a 90-day exclusivity agreement to negotiate the proposed merger of the three entities and "the creation of a mega Islamic bank".

Malaysia, Southeast Asia's third-largest economy after Indonesia and Thailand, hopes to become an important gateway into booming regional markets, while in Islamic finance it is determined to position itself as the leading international centre.

This is the second attempt at a merger between CIMB and RHB in three years, and is in line with the central bank's aspiration for further consolidation in the banking sector.