Giving some credit to the "new" PM...

Just 10 days short of his 100-days in the nation's top CEO'soffice in Putrajaya, the sixth Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak finally does something quite fundamentalist to reform the ailing economiy.I will do a longer assessment to mark the end of his noneymoon period during which a new CEO is often given a longer leash to roam about as he/she finds his/her footing. After that period of latitude, detractors and crtics will put him under microscopic examination -- as most countries are doing with the A(H1Ni1) flu bug -- except one stubborn Minister with a PhD in law still wanting his unique pig-headed prefernce to term it "swine flu" when the World Health Organisation has explained why the initial label is a misnomer. For his own sake, we hope Najib is not stubborn in the ways which are pointedly "wrong" in progressing NegaraKu..Maybe there is some hope yet ...though the light at the end of the tunnel is still stubbornly out of sight. Malaysia is not out of the woods yet. Nyet!

From malayisanmirror.com:

Features
Foreigners can own 70pc of stockbroking firms


Tuesday, 30 June 2009 12:03

KUALA LUMPUR - Foreign shareholding limits in existing stockbroking companies will be increased to 70 per cent from the current 49 per cent in efforts to further enhance Malaysia's position as a listing and investment destination, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced here today.
He also announced that with immediate effect, the Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) guidelines covering the acquisition of equity stakes, mergers and takeovers were repealed without any new guideline in place."The FIC would no longer process any share transactions nor impose equity conditions on such transactions," he said.Ownership in the wholesale segment of the fund management industry would also be fully liberalised to allow 100 per cent foreign ownership for qualified and leading fund management companies to establish operations in Malaysia, he said.Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said that for the retail segment, foreign shareholding limits for the unit trust management companies would also be raised to 70 per cent from its current level of 49 per cent.Najib said this when announcing a comprehensive deregulation of investment guidelines administered by the FIC encompassing acquisition of equity stakes, mergers and takeovers, treatment of fund-raising by listed companies and acquisition of properties at the "Invest Malaysia 2009" conference. - Bernama