The former RHB’s MD and CEO will be succeeding Abdul Farid who is leaving on April 30 

by ASILA JALIL / pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

MALAYAN Banking Bhd (Maybank) has appointed Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli (picture) as its new group president and CEO effective May 1, 2022. 

The Malaysian largest banking group by assets stated that Khairussaleh’s appointment has been approved by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). 

Khairussaleh, 54, who resigned as RHB Banking Group group MD and CEO effective March 25, will succeed Datuk Seri Abdul Farid Alias who will be leaving on April 30 after he did not seek an extension of his contract which is set to expire on Aug 1, 2022. 

“Khairussaleh will rejoin the Maybank family and brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the financial services and capital markets industry of close to 30 years. 

“We are confident that with his vast experience, he will be able to lead Maybank in its next growth phase, pillared on the M25 focus areas of digitalisation, sustainability and new value drivers,” Maybank chairman Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said in a statement to the exchange yesterday. 

Khairussaleh oversaw RHB’s strategic direction and led the banking group to achieve its goals and value creation objectives under its five-year strategy ending in the financial year 2022. 

Prior to joining RHB, Khairussaleh was Maybank between November 2008 and September 2013, having served over three years as the group CFO before taking up the position of president, director and CEO of Maybank’s Indonesian operations. 

Khairussaleh’s name cropped up as a potential candidate for the vacancy after nine years since he was named as the potential CEO candidate for Maybank to replace Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar back in 2013 after he was appointed as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Economic Planning. 

Khairussaleh’s journey in RHB began in December 2013 when he was appointed as the MD of RHB Bank Bhd and deputy group MD of RHB Group. He was subsequently appointed as the group’s MD and CEO in May 2015.

He has vast experience in the financial services spanning over two decades. 

The appointment leaves vacancies at RHB Bank and possibly Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) which has yet to name a new CEO. 

On Aug 15, 2021, MBSB’s group president and CEO Datuk Sri Ahmad Zaini Othman passed away after battling with Covid-19 complications. 

As an interim measure, the bank had appointed its deputy CEO Datuk Nor Azam M Taib as the acting president and CEO. 

Talks are also rife that Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd is on the lookout for a new CEO in the coming months. 

There have been speculations that it’s incumbent Arshad Mohamed Ismail would leave upon the end of his three-year term with the development bank. He has held the position since April 2019. 

HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd, meanwhile, appointed Omar Siddiq as its new CEO in place of Stuart Milne who retires at the end of March. 

Omar was most recently CIMB Bank Malaysia deputy CEO and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd’s CEO of group wholesale banking. 

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the changes that are taking place at the leaderships in the banks would not have any effect on operations and shares in the market. 

He said banks are heavily regulated by BNM and all aspects of their operations and business strategies have been put in place. All these factors are being supervised by the central bank to ensure a smooth process. 

“There should not be any significant hiccups in the event of the resignation by key management staff such as the CEO,” he told The Malaysian Reserve.