National Bank of Canada is preparing to increase its bet on Cambodia this year, a decision that comes as the Southeast Asian country is facing increasing scrutiny and potential economic sanctions over its government’s human-rights record.
Montreal-based National, Canada’s sixth-largest lender, owns 90 per cent of ABA Bank of Cambodia, a more than 20-year-old financial institution that was formerly known as the Advanced Bank of Asia.
A former head of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, Damir Karassayev, owns the remaining 10 per cent of ABA, although that could soon change.
