This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 19, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Nazir Razak will return as chairman of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd after an internal inquiry cleared him of any wrongdoing in the way he handled US$7 million that passed through his account at the bank just before the 2013 general election.

CIMB said in a statement yesterday that the inquiry ordered by the board of directors was done with the help of external audit firm Messrs Ernst & Young, and it also obtained independent legal advice. It did not name the legal firm.

A CIMB spokesperson confirmed to The Edge Financial Daily that the findings of the inquiry will be submitted to Bank Negara Malaysia.

Nazir has been on a voluntary leave of absence since April 19 to facilitate an independent review of a money transfer to his account from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. The move follows Nazir’s confirmation of The Wall Street Journal’s report on March 31 that showed that nearly US$7 million was transferred to his private account from those of his brother Najib ahead of the 2013 election, which was then passed onto politicians in Barisan Nasional.

Nazir’s decision to take a voluntary leave of absence was extolled by various quarters including AirAsia Bhd’s group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, who had described the move as a “class act for the benefit of good corporate governance and transparency”.

In a statement yesterday, CIMB Group said the findings from the review concluded that Nazir did not misuse his position as the group chief executive at that time nor was there any inappropriate use of the bank’s resources.

“However, the detailed examinations conducted during the review identified some process shortcomings, and the boards (of CIMB Group and CIMB Bank) have instructed the management to put in place plans for immediate improvements, as well as strengthen internal rules and processes to avoid reoccurrences moving forward,” it added.

“The boards welcome Datuk Seri Nazir Razak back to serve as chairman of CIMB Group and director of CIMB Bank. The boards are committed to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance in our organisation, and this decision was taken with firm intent towards fulfilling these obligations,” said CIMB Group senior independent director and audit committee chairman Datuk Mohd Nasir Ahmad in the statement.

“Apart from the findings of the review, the boards also took into consideration the vote of confidence from shareholders for Datuk Seri Nazir Razak’s continued chairmanship at our 2016 annual general meeting, as well as his track record of serving the group in various capacities since 1989, in arriving at the decision,” he said.

CIMB Group shares closed unchanged at RM4.32 yesterday, valuing the country’s second-largest lender by assets at RM37.71 billion.