Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the country’s central bank, has imposed monetary penalties to CIMB and Maybank as well as its Islamic banking arms over unplanned downtimes, a violation of the Financial Services Act 2013 and Islamic Financial Services Act 2013.
Maybank paid a total of RM4,320,000 for the fine imposed, while CIMB paid a total of RM760,000 in fines.
BNM notes that between 1 June 2023 and 31 May 2024, Maybank’s regional mobile banking platform (RMBP) and MAE applications experienced multiple unplanned downtime that caused prolonged disruptions in several banking services interface with customers and counterparties. Meanwhile, on 8 and 9 April 2024, CIMB’s customers experienced prolonged service disruptions affecting e-banking channels, automated teller machines (ATM), as well as debit cards and credit cards.
“BNM expects all financial institutions to maintain a high level of their technology resilience against operational disruptions to ensure the continuous availability of essential financial services. BNM will not hesitate to take appropriate supervisory and enforcement actions when financial institutions fall short of regulatory expectations,” BNM stated in both of their advisories to both banks.
CIMB has taken the necessary remediation actions, including enhancing its real-time IT infrastructure monitoring function to further improve its recovery capabilities and prevent future non-compliance. Meanwhile, Maybank has taken the necessary actions to close these gaps as part of its multi-year infrastructure investments to prevent future non-compliance.
