KUALA LUMPUR (May 22): Mohd Faisal Kaim Abdullah has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of agrochemicals company Halex Holdings Bhd.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Halex said Faisal, 53, has been the group managing director since Oct 24 last year, and is also the chief risk officer of the group. He has more than 15 years of experience within the banking, financial services and capital market industries.

The group also announced a slew of other boardroom changes today. This included the retirement of independent and non-executive directors Leong Kah Mun, 49, and Teh Teik Bin, 59.

Another independent and non-executive director Philip S. Anthonysamy, 48, resigned to pursue his personal interest.

Halex also announced that executive deputy chairman Lt Gen (R) Datuk Wira Hj Masood Hj Zainal Abidin, 65, resigned from the company to pursue his personal interest.

The group then announced the appointment of Yeoh Chin Hoe, Datuk Ong Soon Ho, Lee Chooi Keng and Datuk Seri Dr Erwan Datuk Haji Mohd Tahir as independent and non-executive directors.

Yeoh, 66, is at present a director of consultancy firm IBDC (M) Bhd, while Soon Ho, 70, is the group chairman of agrochemical company Hextar Holdings Sdn Bhd. Lee, 60, is a managing director in Hextar.

Erwan, 40, is the CEO of EPE Perdana Bhd, which has interests in property development, energy and utilities as well as engineering and construction.

Halex also announced the appointment of Datuk Ong Choo Meng, 39, as an executive director in the company. Choo Meng is currently the group CEO of Hextar.

Choo Meng is also the son of Soon Ho. The senior and junior Ong are also both directors on the board of Denko Industrial Corp Bhd, another Bursa Malaysia listed company which is involved in the sale of plastic moulded products.

Halex's auditors UHY Chartered Accountants had also resigned last Friday, and did not offer themselves for re-election at the company's annual general meeting, which was held today.

The group's shares closed unchanged at RM1.12 today, and for a market capitalisation of RM118 million.