AmBank Group launches voluntary mutual separation scheme

Spokesman says the MMS will allow the group to further optimise its organisational structure.

PETALING JAYA: AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group) has launched a voluntary mutual separation scheme (MSS) for employees who wish to pursue other career opportunities, The Edge reported today.

According to an email to staff sighted by The Edge Financial Daily, eligible employees can apply for the scheme over a two-week period ending Jan 19.

This includes staff from AmBank Bhd, AmInvestment Bank Bhd and AmBank Islamic Bhd.

A spokesman told The Edge that the MMS would allow the group to further optimise its organisational structure, although AmBank did not reveal how many jobs it intends to shed under the scheme.

“Clearly, the timing is now right for the AmBank Group to undertake the MSS, which is offered purely on a voluntary basis and provides eligible employees the opportunity to pursue their career goals beyond the bank,” the spokesman was quoted as saying.

AmBank Group is the sixth largest banking group by assets in Malaysia, with a market capitalisation of around RM15 billion and assets of RM134.8 billion as at March 31, 2017.

It has over three million customers and employs some 11,000 people.

In July last year, AmBank Group CEO Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said a job rationalisation exercise was on the cards although this did not necessarily mean job cuts.

Speaking amid talks on a proposed merger with RHB Bank Bhd, he said the group was always looking at opportunities to revisit its processes.

“It is (too early) to say whether there are job cuts or jobs lost as a result of the merger, but it certainly something that you do.

“Even if we decide to do it like any other banks, it is always good to (undertake that) on a mutual separation scheme in which you go through a process, because banking is such a regulated industry. We don’t do job cuts just like that, we go through a process,” he said in a separate report by The Edge.

A complete takeover of AmBank by RHB, Malaysia’s fourth biggest bank, could be one of the biggest deals in Malaysia in recent years. -FMT