KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 24): Datuk Seri Nazir Razak will step down from his position as group chairman in CIMB Group and all other positions within the entity by Dec 31, 2018, the bank said in a statement today.
"The CIMB board of directors will now activate its succession plan to decide on the next chairman and the exact date of handover," said CIMB.
Until then, CIMB said Nazir's priorities will be to complete CIMB's four-year transformation programme, T18, to finalise CIMB's new strategic blueprint and ensure a smooth handover to his successor.
Nazir, who is also a brother to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has served CIMB for 29 years since 1989. This includes a tenure of 15 years as group chief executive officer (CEO), as well as his current position as group chairman since 2014.
"Under his leadership, CIMB grew from a fledgling corporate finance franchise into a top Malaysian investment bank, and was later transformed into a leading universal bank in ASEAN," said CIMB.
CIMB was listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2003 during Nazir's time as CEO, with a market capitalisation of RM1.5 billion at the time. That has grown to RM58 billion as at June 30, 2018, with group asset of RM515 billion from mere RM9.6 billion in 2003, the bank added.
In the statement, Nazir clarified his decision was to leave upon completion of T18. "After all, my career mission has been to build CIMB into a leading ASEAN financial institution," he said.
"As T18 comes to a close CIMB is now financially strong, organisationally robust and firmly institutionalised. We have an excellent management team led by Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz and an impressive cadre of future leaders lined up behind them.
"The firm's continued success after my departure will affirm that my CIMB mission has, indeed, been accomplished," he added.
Meanwhile, CIMB's senior independent director Datuk Mohd Nasir Ahmad said on behalf of CIMB group's board of directors that the group is "saddened to be losing" Nazir, but respects his decision.
"Datuk Seri Nazir Razak's visionary leadership, business acumen and professionalism have made CIMB a well-recognised, leading banking institution in ASEAN, and the group's continued success is a testament of his legacy.
"As chairman, he has always supported the directors in carrying out their duties in accordance with the principles of good governance, transparency and accountability, with the mission of creating sustainable value for all our stakeholders," said Mohd Nasir.
CIMB group CEO Tengku Datuk Zafrul Aziz called Nazir "a pillar of support, a great mentor and above all, a highly valued friend".
Adding that CIMB's position as ASEAN's leading universal bank is a testament to Nazir's vision, Zafrul said: "He has always prioritized value-creation for all stakeholders and the group's business sustainability, a philosophy that the management has also embraced."
About 20 minutes ago, Nazir also uploaded a picture of himself with a beautiful sunset in the background on his Instagram account, saying "the sun is setting on my time in CIMB".
Shares of CIMB lost 0.66% or 4 sen to close at RM6.03, giving the bank a market capitalisation of RM56.48 billion.