Issues on corrupt practices are rife these days, in particular amongst government-related projects and government officials both from the ruling party and the opposition.

Are corrupt practices in Malaysia revolving only around these groups of people? Think again. There has been a very fast and very alarming increase in potential corrupt practices amongst our development and commercial banks.

It has become so rampant that it poses a question on what our Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is doing.

Are they too busy to look into our banks? Corrupt practices in Malaysian banks - both development and commercial (banks) - may taken millions (if not billions) from the market.

Unscrupulous businessmen and also politicians from both sides of the fence are milking our banking system. It does not help that there are still various loopholes in the local banking regulation that has allowed this massive cheating of banks.

Loans may be processed with vested interests attached; gone are the days when banks are helping genuine borrowers to prosper in their business. Now it’s all about ‘what’s in it for me’.

Borrowers are resorting to marking up their loan amount to cover the ‘kick backs’ given to bank officers, some in high-ranking positions. Will this be another ridiculous reason for another slump in our local economy?

MACC, please do something about this. Banks are losing millions to such unscrupulous groups of people.

Do your checks on several local banks and see if they lack strict governance, ethics and integrity. Though regulated by the Central Bank (Bank Negara), cheating and frauds are so well planned that the banks’ credit committees are easily taken for a good joy ride.

So good that some projects being financed actually do not exist. Are high-flying highly-paid bank officers that ignorant?

It’s time for the MACC to also start looking into our banks before it is absolutely too late.