The prime minister today chided Hong Leong Bank Bhd for having acted 'irresponsibly' in circulating a list of 454 companies that it had deemed non-marginable, including some that were said to be 'sound' companies.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Bank Negara would be instructed to advise Hong Leong "very strongly" against ever repeating a similar move in the future, as it was "unfair to those companies on the list."

The New Straits Times reported on Thursday that among the companies said to have been listed by Hong Leong were Hyundai-Sime Darby Bhd, Allianz, Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd as well as other sound companies like RHB, SapuraCrest Bhd and hospital operator Pantai Holdings Bhd.

"They should not have this list... I find it unacceptable they should resort to this," Abdullah told reporters this morning after opening a conference on The Challenges of the Globalisation Era organised by the Malaysian Liaison Council of the Union Network International in Kuala Lumpur.

The stock market instability may have been caused to some extent by manipulation, said Abdullah, but this, among other things, was being addressed by regulators at Bursa Saham Bhd.

"The market is undergoing some kind of correction. I don't know, maybe it's over-correcting. But at the same time, there is some information that they (the regulators) have been able to put things the other way around," he said.

Not resolving problem

However, Hong Leong being one of ten anchor banks was merely adding to the problem and not resolving it by publishing its list of entities that would not be provided margin-financing facilities, Abdullah said further.

"Bank Negara had already called (a number of banks), and gave its statement in this regard. But unfortunately, this is one of the anchor banks. I didn't expect Hong Leong to come up with their own list, which is supposed to do with the margins for the purchasing of shares," he said.

"I would expect Hong Leong to be more responsible... I will inform Bank Negara to call them," he added.