This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 20, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd and AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group) have made peace after the former took its bigger rival to court for allegedly misappropriating sensitive information via ex-employees of Alliance Bank.

The suit, which was filed in February, was reported to have named key personnel within AmBank Group’s business banking division, and brought into question the near-term direction of the up-and-coming unit that was slated to spearhead the bank’s growth in the coming years.

Alliance Bank said all parties to the civil suit have reached an amicable settlement with respect to the matter.

“We are pleased to inform that this accordingly brings the matter to an end. There is no financial or operational impact arising from the settlement,” it added in a brief announcement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

To recap, The Edge Malaysia weekly reported on Feb 26 that Alliance Bank served a summons on AmBank Group for allegedly misappropriating sensitive information from Alliance Bank via its ex-employees who are now current AmBank employees.

Following the report, Alliance Bank issued a media statement that it would reach out to AmBank Group to resolve the matter.

AmBank Group managing director of business banking Christopher Yap, hired by the bank to lead the new division, was at the centre of the controversy.

The report stated that Alliance Bank had identified an electronic paper trail that showed sensitive information making its way into Yap’s hands after his departure.

At market close yesterday, Alliance Bank was up eight sen or 1.82% to RM4.48, while AmBank Group shares closed up two sen or 0.51% to RM3.92. Alliance Bank’s market capitalisation stood at RM6.94 billion, and AmBank Group’s at RM11.82 billion.