KUALA LUMPUR: As widely expected, Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz has been named as the successor to CIMB Group Holdings Bhd
’s current group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak.
CIMB announced yesterday that Tengku Zafrul will assume the position of acting group chief executive officer at the second largest banking group in Malaysia from Sept 1.
The leadership transition will see Nazir – the face of CIMB for the past 15 years – taking over as chairman of the group from Sept 1 from Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof, who will be retiring from the board.
“The board has endorsed Tengku Zafrul as the proposed new CEO, that’s clear. The only thing is that the board has decided to defer formal appointment until after the confirmation of merger negotiations,” Nazir told reporters at a briefing on the company’s second-quarter financial performance in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
CIMB is currently engaged in exclusive negotiations with RHB Capital Bhd and Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) to potentially undertake the largest merger in Malaysia’s banking history. The three-month negotiation for the deal, which started in July, is expected to end on Oct 8.
Nazir said the mega-merger negotiation was progressing well.
“As it stands today, I’m quite optimistic that we can put together a successful merger,” Nazir said.
“There is willingness and enthusiasm on the part of all three management teams to put together a winning combination of the three financial institutions,” he added.
On the various speculation in relation to the outcome of the CIMB-RHB-MBSB deal, Nazir responded: “All options are on the table… but to say anything has been decided will be flawed.”
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