MARC Ratings has maintained the MARCWatch Developing status on its financial institution ratings for Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd (KFH Malaysia) as the Islamic bank continues to wind down its Malaysian operations and divest its financing portfolios.
The rating agency said the MARCWatch placement has remained in place since Aug 1, 2024, following KFH Malaysia’s announcement that it would voluntarily withdraw from the Malaysian market.
The withdrawal is part of parent KFH Group’s strategy to concentrate its operations and resources on the Middle East.
MARC Ratings said the divestment of KFH Malaysia’s retail and corporate financing portfolios remains ongoing as the bank progresses towards completing the wind-down.
A significant step was completed in April 2026 with the sale of the bulk of the bank’s non-performing retail financing portfolio.
Meanwhile, most of KFH Malaysia’s corporate financing portfolio has already been offboarded, leaving only a small number of non-performing accounts to be dealt with.
The continued reduction of the financing portfolios marks further progress in KFH Malaysia’s planned exit from the domestic banking market.
MARC Ratings said it will continue monitoring developments through to the completion of the wind-down process.
