KUALA LUMPUR (April 20): AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank) confirmed that it has settled its civil suit with Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd for the alleged misappropriation of sensitive information via the latter's ex-employees.

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.

"The suit under reference has been amicably settled and there were no financial obligations or implications arising from the settlement on AmBank (M) Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMMB," AmBank said in a stock exchange filing today.

It also did not cause nor result in any operational impact to the group, it said.

Alliance Bank had announced yesterday that it had reached a settlement with AmBank, adding there was also no financial or operational impact on its end.

On Feb 26, The Edge Malaysia weekly had reported that Alliance Bank served a summons to AmBank for allegedly misappropriating sensitive information from the former via its ex-employees, who are now AmBank employees.

AmBank managing director of business banking Christopher Yap, hired by the bank to lead the new division, was at the centre of the controversy, as an electronic paper trail identified by Alliance Bank showed sensitive information making its way into Yap's hands after his departure.

AmBank shares declined 4 sen or 1.02% to RM3.88 at the noon break today, giving the group a RM11.85 billion market value.

Meanwhile, shares in Alliance Bank were down 6 sen to 1.34% today at RM4.42, valuing the group at RM6.84 billion.