In today’s edition of Evening 5 — Jamie Ling will helm AMMB Holdings and AmBank (M), following the retirement of Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy plans to submit its proposal for a targeted subsidy mechanism to the Cabinet this month.
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00:04 AMNB Holdings has appointed Ling Foshiong Elias Jameeling as its Group CEO and CEO of Ambank Malaysia,
00:12 following the retirement of Dato' Sulaiman Muhammad Tahir, effective November 23rd.
00:17 This confirms The Edge's report on September 11th, 2023, citing sources that the 60-year-old was
00:24 leaving the country's sixth-largest banking group by assets, as his contract was understood to be
00:30 expiring this month. Ling, a chartered accountant, previously served as the group's CFO from 2017,
00:37 where he managed the full spectrum of Ambank Group's finance, overseeing financial strategy
00:43 and implementation. AMNB said he has in-depth commercial and financial experience, and his
00:49 career portfolio transcends corporate, investment and retail banking, treasury, risk management and
00:55 financial management. It believes his broad and extensive experience in the banking industry,
01:00 coupled with his strong leadership skill and vision, will further strengthen Ambank's position
01:05 in the industry and propel it to greater heights. AMNB's shares rose 0.8% to RM3.90,
01:13 valuing it at RM12.93 billion.
01:15 The Ministry of Economy will be submitting its proposal for a targeted subsidy mechanism to the
01:26 Cabinet this month. Economy Minister Mohd Rafizi Ramli told The Dewan Rakyat the proposal would
01:32 outline the implementation plan, follow-up actions and engagement communication plan and support
01:38 plans to ensure the subsidy rationalisation does not burden the people. He said three different
01:44 implementation approaches to determine one's eligibility will be put forward for consideration.
01:50 The first is based on an individual's net disposable income, with subsidy provisions
01:55 through a social protection approach. The second on household net disposable income,
01:59 with subsidy provisions through a hybrid approach involving social assistance and social protection.
02:06 And the third on both individual and household net disposable income, with assistance to be
02:11 rendered via a subsidy card. Only Malaysians will be eligible for aid under the subsidy
02:17 rationalisation plan, which will be rolled out after the government's Central Database System
02:22 or PADU is open to the public, and the data reviewed and verified by Malaysians by March 2024.
02:28 A multi-lane fast flow toll collection system, which is expected to be implemented on highways
02:39 sometime next year, will utilise automatic number plate recognition and RFID systems.
02:46 Deputy Works Minister Datuk S. Rahman Mohamad said this will eliminate the need for users to
02:52 stop or slow down for toll payments, ensuring smoother highway travel. According to a Bernama
02:58 report, the Deputy Minister said an extensive study involving numerous countries has been
03:03 conducted and the ministry is aiming to implement the toll collection system without boosts and
03:09 barriers on the nation's highways in 2024. Last month, the Edge Weekly reported that a private
03:15 sector proposal to implement this toll collection system is facing pushback from the toll concessionaires.
03:22 Citing sources, the Weekly said the concessionaires were presented during a meeting organised by the
03:28 Malaysian Highway Authority and the Works Ministry with the proposal to roll out the system by a
03:33 privately held company that is 60% controlled by a local conglomerate with interests in power,
03:40 telecommunications and construction. The sources said this proposal would generally centralise
03:46 the operations, maintenance and collection of all toll booths and cost an estimated 3.46
03:53 billion ringgit for Malaysia's 33 toll highways. Among others, the concessionaires reportedly
03:58 wanted more transparency and were not comfortable with third parties undertaking toll collection
04:04 on their behalf, citing potential leakages.
04:07 Transport Minister Anthony Look says the government will announce a new road tax or
04:17 motor vehicle licence structure for electric vehicles next month to encourage more people
04:23 to use the vehicles. Speaking to the press after officiating the International Rail Symposium today,
04:29 Look said however that this new structure will only take effect after 2025, after the end of
04:35 the road tax exemption period for electric vehicles as announced by the government last year.
04:41 Look said the government is aware of electric vehicle owners' concerns about having to pay
04:46 steep road taxes once the exemption period ends and the Transport Ministry has presented to the
04:51 National EV Task Force on ensuring a more competitive new structure. The Transport
04:57 Ministry through the Road Transport Department introduced last February the road tax exemption
05:02 for electric vehicles. The exemption applies to battery and fuel cell vehicles, though not hybrids,
05:09 and is valid until December 31, 2025.
05:17 The High Court has allowed the prosecution's application to amend three of the 25 charges
05:23 former Prime Minister Datuk Srinajib Razak faces in the 1MDB Tonor trial. Presiding Judge Datuk
05:29 Colin Lawrence-Sekerah said the prosecution was well within its rights to amend the charges before
05:35 it closes its case. Sekerah said that the amendments concerned only figures and amounts,
05:41 but the prosecution's case and narrative is unchanged and there was nothing sinister in
05:46 the amendments. The trial judge also noted the amendments do not prejudice Najib, as the defence
05:52 is allowed to recall certain witnesses pertaining to the respective amounts in the charges.
05:57 In this trial, the ex-Finance Minister faces 25 charges comprising four predicate charges of abuse
06:04 of power, of receiving a gratification of RM2.28 billion and 21 money laundering charges. The
06:11 prosecution had sought to amend three of the charges to reduce the amount Najib is alleged
06:16 to have received from 1MDB-linked funds by RM5 million, based on testimony by Bank Negara analyst
06:23 Adam Arif Muhammad Raslan, who said that RM5 million in Najib's account came from an unknown
06:28 source which is not accounted for.
06:30 [Music]