Former Minister complains of too many banks in Malaysia

Former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin feels there are now "way too many banks" in Malaysia.

He cautioned that only big banks with huge capital could sustain if there were another economic crisis while the small ones would perish. He pointed out that the recent financial meltdown in the US saw many banks collapse even including big players like Citibank.

"I see too many banks now, but, there must be a reason for it. I don't expect more licences to be issued," he said during a question and answer session at the Sixth Tun Abdul Razak Lecture Series here today.

During his tenure, Daim said there were only four anchor banks and that was suffice for the country's financial system.