KUALA LUMPUR (July 4): RHB Bank Bhd has announced the appointment of Datuk Adissadikin Ali as the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of RHB Islamic and head of the group's shariah business.

Adissadikin will be succeeding Ibrahim Hassan effective Aug 1, the group said in a statement today.

"Adissadikin will be responsible for leading, managing and growing the group's shariah business, making it into one of the top three Islamic banking institutions in Malaysia, while also exploring opportunities for growth regionally.

"Group Shariah Business is one of RHB's key growth areas under its IGNITE 2017 transformation programme," it added.

RHB Banking Group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said Adissadikin brings with him 21 years of experience in the financial services sector.

"I am confident that he will be able to strengthen and build our Group Shariah Business further to become one of the top Islamic banks in Asean," he said.

Prior to joining the RHB Banking Group, Adissadikin was CEO of Alkhair International Islamic Bank Bhd since June 2015. From October 2010 to May 2015, he was the president and CEO of ExportImport Bank of Malaysia Bhd.

He graduated from Monash University in Australia with a Bachelor of Business (Banking & Finance) degree, and subsequently obtained a MBA (Finance) from Universiti Malaya. He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Programme, and is a chartered banker with The Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers.

RHB Bank's share price edged up 3 sen or 0.58% to close at RM5.16 today, with 5.03 million shares changing hands.