Bank Asya shareholders slam defamatory gov't press reporting

Pro-government media outlets’ defamatory reporting, along with the banking regulator’s politically motivated management takeover of publicly traded participation bank Bank Asya, draws condemnation.

“This is character assassination,” declared Bank Asya’s shareholders, in a statement which read, “There is a systematic campaign in the press, consisting of lies, stemming from one center.”

In an open call for pro-government media to apply its conscience, the shareholders vowed “We remind those who engage in news reporting that is nothing short of slander and lies that they will have to answer for on Judgment Day.”

“It is easy to oppress the people; however there is also Divine Justice. We will use our legal rights to the fullest,” the statement continued.

Bank Asya’s management overhaul had been slammed as illegal and entirely based on politics. The pro-government Sabah daily had engaged in manipulative and slanderous reporting in the past year, claiming that the bank’s capital adequacy ratio was going to decline and prompting a takeover. However, Bank Asya had the best capital adequacy ratio in the banking sector.

Published on BGNNews, 14 February 2015, Saturday

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• Context, fact and law: demystifying the Bank Asya takeover
• History of politically motivated assault on Bank Asya