Open up unsold ASM shares to all

By Deborah Loh
thenutgraph.com

PETALING JAYA, 27 April 2009: The remaining Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) shares allocated for bumiputera and Indian Malaysians which have not yet been bought should be opened up to all Malaysians, suggests Kedah Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang.

He said the ASM units for bumiputera may not be attractive because of other products that were being offered exclusively by Permodalan Nasional Berhad for the community, such as Amanah Saham Bumiputera.

Tan suggested that after six months from launching the sale, unsold ASM units should be made available to all Malaysians. He said this six-month period should apply to similar products such as Amanah Saham Wawasan in the future, whereby all Malaysians would be eligible to buy unsold units upon the expiry date.

He said it would not prevent bumiputera from still purchasing the units.

"The opening up of the unsold portion after the expiry of six months from the launch of sale would still permit bumiputera to purchase the said units," he said in a press statement.

However, Tan said he agreed that the investment limit of up to 20,000 units per person should be maintained, even for those who wanted to buy more units after his proposed expiry period.

Tan was commenting on news reports that all 999 million units of ASM allocated for Chinese Malaysians had been snapped up within three days after launching on 20 April.

Today, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin urged bumiputera and Indian Malaysian investors to buy up the remaining ASM shares allocated for them.