KUALA LUMPUR (June 30): Datuk Seri Nazir Razak has denied a news report that he is leaving his post as chairman of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd -- the country’s second largest lender by assets, saying he has yet to decide whether to seek an extension to his tenure when it ends in August next year.

In a brief statement today, Nazir said he has also not communicated with anyone or any bodies about his position.

"The CIMB chairmanship is decided by the board, shareholders and Bank Negara Malaysia, and if at any time one of them would like me to step aside I must and I would. I have spent 29 years here - my only job - and I will always do what is best for CIMB," he added.

Nazir was responding to The Star report today that said he will be leaving the banking group. Quoting sources, the report went on to say that Nazir had informed CIMB's board of directors that he will not be seeking a re-election as the chairman of the banking group and will leave when his term finishes next year.

"We have worked hard to build an institution that is robust and governed by robust processes so that it is not dependent on individuals," said Nazir.

"But I appreciate leadership uncertainty is not helpful, so I hope that my response to The Star article gives as much clarity as is possible within my means," he added.

According to CIMB's Annual Report 2017, the 51-year-old Nazir joined the corporate advisory department of Commerce International Merchant Bankers Bhd (now known as CIMB Investment Bank Bhd) in 1989. In 1993, he transferred to the bank’s stockbroking arm, where he rose to the position of executive director. He moved back to CIMB Investment Bank as deputy chief executive on June 1, 1996 and became CIMB group chief executive on June 1, 1999. He assumed the position of group chief executive of an enlarged CIMB Group on Nov 7, 2006 pursuant to a merger with Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Bhd.

He was appointed chairman of CIMB Group on Sept 1, 2014.

On April 19, 2016, Nazir took a 30-day voluntary leave of absence as chairman of CIMB Group following a report in the Wall Street Journal that he had handled US$7 million (RM28.57 million) on behalf of his brother, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in the run-up to the 2013 general election, which Nazir had described as "a painful period and not his finest hour". Nazir was given the go-ahead to resume his role on May 18, 2016, after an extensive review by two board directors of CIMB and external auditor Messrs Ernst & Young who had cleared him of misusing his position as group chief executive at the time and inappropriate use of the banking group’s resources.

The latest report comes amid changes in key management positions of government agencies and government-linked companies (GLCs). On Friday, Permodalan Nasional Bhd announced the retirement of Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar as chairman of the group. Other key resignations related to GLCs in recent times included Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s group CEO Datuk Seri Mohammed Shazalli Ramly, while Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) group managing director Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din announced his retirement on June 20.

Last Friday, The Star Online also dismissed a SMS message purportedly sent from its news alert service that had stated that Renzo C Viegas was replacing Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz as CIMB Group's CEO as fake.

CIMB shares closed 5 sen or 0.91% lower at RM5.45 on Friday, with 17.96 million shares done, bringing a market capitalisation of RM51.04 billion.