Dreary banking sector draws interest

THE banking sector got a jolt recently when the family of the late Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow announced a plan to pare down their 21.6% stake in Public Bank Bhd to comply with the Financial Services Act (FSA) 2013.

While the sell down plan is in the works — the idea is to do a staggered sale to existing stakeholders of Public Bank — it has drawn the spotlight to the FSA’s shareholding rule, which stipulates that no individual can own more than 10% of a bank.