by MARK RAO/ pic by ARIF KARTONO

THE roles of chief commercial officer (CCO) and COO in Bursa Malaysia Bhd will be eliminated starting next year to facilitate the restructuring of the exchange for better efficiency.

Last Friday, Bursa Malaysia announced that the CCO and COO roles will be phased out resulting in a flatter management structure.

The current CCO Selvarany Rasiah, and COO Datin Azalina Adham, as well as chief regulatory officer Yew Yee Tee, will leave the local bourse following the expiry of their current fixed-term contracts.

Bursa Malaysia also announced that corporate strategy director Dr Tan Wei Lin, will be leaving the company to pursue other endeavours with the expiry of her contract.

As part of the restructuring, the exchange operator’s existing business leadership team will report directly to the CEO, who will have a wider span of direct management and oversight of the business functions of the exchange group.

A new position, namely CEO for regulation, will be created to lead the regulatory leadership team in performing the frontline regulatory functions of the exchange.

The changes to Bursa Malaysia’s organisational and leadership structure is aimed at accelerating growth in critical areas, promoting agility to foster greater cross-functional collaborations and strengthening the governance arrangement within the exchange group.

“The organisational restructuring will make Bursa Malaysia a more agile and efficient organisation, better able to meet the changing needs of customers and stakeholders in a fast-evolving global market,” its CEO Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift (picture) said in a statement last Friday.

“On behalf of the board and management of Bursa Malaysia, I would like to thank our colleagues for the support and contributions during their tenure with the organisation.”

The new changes to the exchange will be operational from Jan 1, 2020. The announcement came just a day after Bursa Malaysia disclosed plans for an organisational restructuring to both flatten the organisation and future proof the exchange in view of the fast-evolving and challenging operational and regulatory landscape.

Muhamad Umar said it was incumbent on the exchange to make these changes to better serve its customers and stakeholders, while fulfilling its vision to establish itself as Asean’s leading responsible and globally connected marketplace.

Separately, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) confirmed reports that its MD of corporate finance and investments Eugene Wong Weng Soon, will be departing the regulatory authority.

Wong informed the SC on May this year of his intention to leave upon the completion of his contract in December of the same year, according to the SC.

“After 10 years of service with the SC, Wong believed it was the right time for him to seek new challenges. He had given SC eight months’ notice to ensure the completion of several major projects,” the capital market regulator stated in a statement last Friday.