KUALA LUMPUR (April 29): Digital bank bidders rose on Friday morning (April 29) as Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is set to announce the winners on the same day. Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd added two sen or 1.75% to RM1.16, while Revenue Group Bhd grew six sen or 4.69% to RM1.34. “We also expect the entry of these digital banks to accelerate the digitalisation of our incumbent banks. Later in March, however, Nor Shamsiah said that the central bank will only announce in the near future its decision on the digital bank licences upon completion of the legal process. Read also:BNM to announce digital bank licence winners on Friday, say sources

KUALA LUMPUR (April 29): Bursa Malaysia’s Energy Index rose more than 3% on the last trading day of April, led mainly by a rally among oil and gas (O&G) refiners, in particular Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd and Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, in line with the spike in crack spreads. Hengyuan and Petron Malaysia, on the other hand, had rallied 57 sen (10.94%) and 25 sen (4.76%) to settle at RM5.78 and RM5.50, respectively. Both refiners also saw heightened trading interest in Friday's morning trading session, as Hengyuan and Petron Malaysia saw 9.33 million shares and 1.37 million shares changed hands. Another O&G producer Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd also benefited from the refiners’ rally as it was six sen or 4.92% higher at RM1.28. Strong demand for transportation fuels amid a supply shortfall would drive refining margins even as a recent surge in crude prices bolsters feedstock costs, Moody’s added.

SHAH ALAM: Police are looking for a man who was captured on CCTV masturbating while peeping into a house kitchen at Section 23 here. The video showed the man creeping around a back alley of the housing area. He can then be seen crouching and pacing forward and backwards while peeping through the kitchen window of one of the houses while masturbating. Shah Alam OCPD Asst Comm Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim said a one-minute-19-second video of the incident was circulated on social media by Twitter handle @Bangbunn. He said the case was classified as a public act of gross indecency under Section 377D of the Penal Code.

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit rebounded to open slightly higher against the US dollar today after two consecutive days of losses as the cheaper ringgit attracted investors, said an analyst. At 9.16 am, the local note stood at 4.3550/3595 versus the greenback from Thursday’s close of 4.3630/3650. However, another dealer said the ringgit’s gains were limited as investors remain concerned over the Bank of Japan's decision on its monetary policy. Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies. The local note strengthened versus the Japanese yen to 3.3369/3406 from Thursday’s close of 3.3412/3430, and rose against the euro to 4.5828/5875 from 4.5894/5915 previously.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 28): Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will be unveiling the successful applicants for its digital bank licences on Friday (April 29), according to sources. BNM was previously slated to make the announcement on March 30, but instead said it would be announcing the winners “upon completion of the legal process”. BNM previously said it could select up to five successful applicants once it concludes its assessment, and hinted that it was looking at “tech-heavy and tech-savvy” players to hold the digital bank licence. Also tipped as a front runner was YTL Corp Bhd, which has reportedly submitted a bid with Singapore’s Sea Group. Read also:BNM awards digital banking licences to Boost-RHB, GXS Bank-Kuok Brothers, YTL-SEA, AEON-MoneyLion, KAF ConsortiumRHB Bank, Axiata, YTL Corp, AEON Credit climb after winning digital bank licences

PUTRAJAYA: A select committee has been set up to expedite the foreign worker quota approval process, says Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan (pic). He said the Ministry would be contacting the employers to reschedule their interview dates to expedite their application process. The Cabinet meeting on Dec 10 had agreed on the recruitment of foreign workers in sectors which they are permitted to work in. Saravanan said applications for employers to hire foreign workers in all employment sectors was opened on Feb 15, but some applications could not be processed either because the ratio compliance requirement imposed were not met, did not comply with the labour laws or the applications were incomplete. He said the applications would not be processed manually and the foreign worker quota application could only be accessed through https://fwcms.com.my.

The egg trays have been registered with the Intellectual Property Corp of Malaysia. Yang and Wang are seeking a declaration that JPH is storing and selling egg trays which infringed and/or fraudulently imitate the industrial design in Malaysia without the permission of the duo. They also want an injunction to restrain JPH from producing and selling the egg trays. "At this juncture, no judgement has been made by the court on the writ of summons and statement of claim. The group has appointed Messrs Chua and Ng as the solicitors for legal advice to resolve and/or defend against this matter.

The oil and gas (O&G) industry is not immune to these kinds of vulnerabilities. There are several reasons to believe that cybersecurity should be of concern to the O&G industry in Malaysia. It is also important to note that most players serving Malaysia’s O&G industry are small and medium-sized O&G services and equipment (OGSE) players. The O&G industry involves an integrated and complex upstream and downstream supply chain, which could result in a ripple effect if or when vulnerabilities in cyberspace occur. The O&G industry in Malaysia should increase cybersecurity efforts to mitigate these issues and to prepare for ESG and sustainability reporting in this space.

PETALING JAYA: Some 39 accident "black spots" have been identified in Selangor in conjunction with Ops Selamat held during the festive season. "We have identified the black spots as a high number of accidents occurred there. "The police will be ready to monitor the areas closely for the safety of all road users," he said when contacted on Thursday (April 28). Among the black spots identified are Jalan Sungai Buloh-Kuala Selangor, Jalan Kuala Lumpur-Seremban, Grand Saga Highway, Jalan Subang, Jalan Salak-Sepang, Jalan Meru, MRR2, Jalan KL-Ipoh, Jalan Serdang Raya and Jalan Klang-Teluk Intan. "The programme enables road users to use petrol stations as safe points in the case of emergencies, mishaps or if they were victims of crimes.

PETALING JAYA: IJM Corp Bhd (IJM) has launched its largest Indian project – the 110km Solapur-Bijapur tollway built by its Indian arm, IJM (India) Infrastructure Ltd (IJM India). According to IJM’s statement, The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has awarded a 20-year concession contract to IJM India to develop the Solapur-Bijapur section of the new National Highway 52 between Maharashtra and Karnataka. India’s Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari launched the tollway in Solapur, Maharashtra on Monday. With a stable of prominent projects completed in India in recent years, IJM India has emerged as a premier DBFOT specialist and have set standards for road construction in the country’s infrastructure sector,” he added. IJM India operates three tolled highways in India.

SINGAPORE (April 28): Buying into the sharp slump in Malaysian short-tenor bonds may be a lucrative trade in emerging Asia due to an overpricing of rate hikes. Economists expect Bank Negara Malaysia to start hiking in the second half from the record low policy rate of 1.75%. Its spread over the policy rate widened to a record high of 189 basis points this week. Rate-differential impactEven if Malaysia’s central bank starts with rate hikes in the second half of the year, it will still lag the US Federal Reserve (Fed). The federal funds rate last overtook Malaysia’s policy rate in March 2005, with the positive spread remaining until December 2007.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian citizens applying for their Malaysian International Passport (PMA) hit a minor setback as the Immigration Department faced a technical glitch. In a statement at around 10am yesterday, the Immigration Department issued a notice on social media informing applicants that there was an interruption in the application system. “The Malaysian Immigration Department would like to inform the public that the PMA application service is experiencing technical glitches. “We apologise for the inconvenience and are doing our best to ensure the system returns to normal operations,” the statement read on their official page. As of 5pm yesterday, many were still commenting on the system being down despite the department having announced on social media that the system was working as of 1pm.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 28): Datuk Syed Zaid Albar has tendered his resignation as the executive chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), just six months after his term was extended for a three-year period. However, Serba Dinamik ignored a court order to reveal the October 2021 factual finding update (FFU) of the SIR. Bursa has suspended the trading of Serba Dinamik shares since Oct 22 last year amid the company’s refusal to release the FFU. Since the accounting-turned-legal fiasco, Serba Dinamik’s performance has turned south and it booked its first-ever losses in the second half of 2021. There has been no update by Serba Dinamik on any action taken by its lenders following the matter.

KLANG: A dog that was chained up here is believed to have struggled for almost an entire night before finally breathing its last. The video shows the dog whining and crying but no one came out of the house to render any assistance. Enraged social media users rushed to the location to free the dog, which had unfortunately died by then. “I decided to go after seeing not many were coming forward to rescue the dog, just making comments. Six other people besides Mathews and Wong also tried to rescue the dog.

Distributable income for the quarter amounted to RM20.5 million or 0.95 sen per unit, while revenue grew 19% to RM67.59 million from RM56.66 million a year earlier. CapitaLand Malaysia REIT Management Sdn Bhd (CMRM) chairman Lui Chong Chee said CLMT’s result improved on the back of domestic consumption recovery as containment measures were eased. In particular, shopping malls that cater to tourists will receive a boost from the reopening of borders. CMRM CEO Tan Choon Siang said the trust’s NPI and distribution per unit (DPU) continued to see quarter-on-quarter improvements. “Coupled with the reopening of borders, we look forward to the return of tourists and increased footfall to CLMT malls.