This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on September 7, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: FGV Holdings Bhd, formerly known as the Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd, has appointed former Bursa Malaysia Bhd chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff and Datin Hoi Lai Ping to its board of directors.

At the same time, FGV has also redesignated Datuk Yahaya Abd Jabar as an independent non-executive director, from senior independent non-executive director.

“Pursuant to the redesignation of Datuk Yahaya Abd Jabar to be independent non-executive director, he shall relinquish his position from chairman of nomination and remuneration committee to member of nomination and remuneration committee,” FGV, the world’s largest crude palm oil producer, said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Subsequently, FGV has appointed Yusli as chairman of the nomination and remuneration committee.

FGV added that Yahaya has also resigned from the board’s audit committee, and his seat was replaced by Hoi, a chartered accountant and graduate from Monash University in Australia.

Currently, Hoi is a director of Zurich Life Insurance Malaysia Bhd.

The appointments of Yusli and Hoi came after FGV said in an Aug 28 statement that the group is embarking on an initiative to strengthen its board, drawing from specialists in the plantation industry, corporate governance and turnaround management.

Reuters reported on Tuesday, quoting sources, that three top executives have left FGV at the end of August, in a management shake-up.

The departure of the senior executives came as FGV launched investigations into several of its business practices following “adverse findings” from an earlier probe into its investments. The investigation is examining poor trading practices and palm oil sales, a worker shortage and other problems that have led to financial losses.

New FGV chairman Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid said earlier this week that the group is also investigating some board members and management staff.