By P. Gunasegaram
Abdul Wahid Omar
Three internal candidates and two external ones are said to be likely candidates to succeed Abdul Wahid Omar as CEO and president of Malayan Banking, the country’s largest bank and listed company, according to industry sources. Wahid was sworn in as a minister in the prime minister’s department.
The three are Khairussaleh Ramli, head of Maybank’s Indonesian bank, group chief financial officer Mohd Rafique Merican, and investment banking head Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz. The two external candidates are Jamaludin Ibrahim, who is president and CEO of mobile phone and data operator Axiata, and Bursa Malaysia CEO Tajuddin Atan.
The Maybank board is expected to announce the new CEO shortly. Sources said Wahid’s recommendation to the board to succeed him was Khairussaleh, a close confidante and someone who worked with Wahid when he was heading up Telekom Malaysia as head of strategy.
However, sources said that it was by no means certain that the Maybank board, which is noted for its independence, would automatically choose Wahid’s candidate. As the largest bank in the country and one of the largest in South East Asia, it may look for someone more experienced and even someone out of the industry to head up Maybank, the largest listed entity in terms of market value on Bursa Malaysia.
Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Noor
The chairman of Maybank is Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor, a mining engineer, who previously headed Shell’s regional operations. He was also Maxis Communication’s chairman.
Other Maybank board members include Mohd Salleh Harun (vice chairman) and Ismail Shahudin, former senior officers at Maybank, as well as former auditor-general Dr Hadenan Jalil and former central banker and economist Dr Tan Tat Wai.
While the Maybank board is said to be quite independent, the appointment of CEO would still need the approval of both Bank Negara Malaysia as well as the finance minister.
Among the other two internal candidates, Mohd Rafique is also said to be close to Wahid and has worked with him in various places before. Both he and Khairussaleh were hand-picked by Wahid to come into senior management in Maybank.
The other internal candidate, Tengku Zafrul, heads Maybank’s investment banking and stockbroking activities and is widely thought to have brought greater dynamism and profile to Maybank’s hitherto moribund investment banking activities.
Industry sources were hard put to name possible outside candidates to head Maybank but two names stood out here. The first is Jamaludin who successfully reorganised and revamped operations at regional cellular operator Axiata to make it one of the largest companies listed on the local bourse.
Jamaludin was previously CEO of Maxis where he is also widely credited with building the brand and profile of the company, Malaysia’s largest mobile operator. Maybank chairman Megat Zaharuddin would no doubt have been closely associated with Jamaludin and knows him well.
Jamaudin’s strength would be international exposure with both Maxis and Axiata in countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, etc and the building up of a strong consumer group in the mobile telephony business. Although he does not have banking experience, he brings stature, experience and respect so necessary for a large consumer bank with regional tentacles such as Maybank, sources said.
“I would have no hesitation supporting him as CEO,” one Maybank insider said.
The other external candidate mentioned was Bursa Malaysia CEO Tajuddin Atan who previously headed up RHB Capital and RHB Bank and had a stint with Bank Simpanan Nasional. However his recent past has had some blemishes where his high salary at Bursa Malaysia came into public question and he was blamed for the exodus of senior staff from the company.
The potential candidates
Khairussaleh Ramli, President director, Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII), 45.
He was Group Chief Financial Officer, Maybank Group from November 2008 to April 2012. Prior to joining Maybank, he served Telekom Malaysia Berhad for two years. His last position there was Group Chief Strategy Officer.
He spent eight years with Bursa Malaysia Berhad from 1998 to 2006, holding various positions before rising to the position of Chief Financial Officer in 2004.
Mohamed Rafique Merican, Group Chief Financial Officer, Maybank, 48.
Mohamed Rafique Merican has been the Group Chief Financial Officer since June1, last year.
He has more than 20 years of experience in the corporate sector, including five years as Chief Financial Officer of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and Malakoff Berhad.
Prior to joining TNB in 2009, he served at Radicare (M) Sdn Bhd, the facilities management concessionaire for hospitals in Klang Valley, Selangor, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang as its Chief Operating Officer initially and subsequently as its Chief Executive Officer. He also held corporate finance and advisory roles with Amanah Capital Group and Bumiputra Merchant Bankers Berhad in the early part of his career.
Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, CEO Maybank Kim Eng and Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, 39.
Tengku Zafrul has wide investment banking and corporate experience, having served in leadership positions in key institutions over the last 14 years.
He was the Group Director of K & N Kenanga Holdings Berhad, a board member of Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad, Kenanga Capital Sdn Bhd and Capital Investment Bank (Labuan) Limited. He also previously served as CEO of Tune Money Sdn Bhd, Head of Investment Banking in Citigroup Malaysia, Group Managing Director of ECM Avenue Berhad and CEO of Avenue Securities.
Jamaludin Ibrahim, President and CEO, Axiata
Jamaludin was appointed to Axiata in March 2008. Prior to his appointment in Axiata. He was with Maxis Communications Berhad (Maxis), which he joined in 1997 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in the same year, and Chief Executive Officer in 1998.
He retired from Maxis in July 2007 but remained as a board member until February 2008. Prior to joining Maxis, he spent 16 years in the IT industry. He was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Equipment Malaysia (then the second largest IT-company worldwide) from 1993 to 1997.
Jamaludin also spent 12 years in IBM (1981-1993) as Systems Engineer and then in various positions in Sales, Marketing and Management. Prior to IBM, he was a lecturer in Quantitative Methods at California State University, USA in 1980.
Tajuddin Atan, CEO of Bursa Malaysia
He commenced his career with Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Berhad in 1983 where he held a number of senior positions over a period of more than sixteen years including a stint at the bank’s New York Branch.
He was the CEO Bank Simpanan Nasional from October 2004 until November 2007. He was appointed managing director of RHB Bank Berhad and Group Managing Director of RHB Capital Berhad from May 2009 and July 2009 respectively until 31 March 2011.
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