KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 27): Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has announced that Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli will be appointed as the banking group’s new president and chief executive officer (CEO), effective May 1.

According to the statement, the appointment of Khairussaleh has been greenlit by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

The largest bank in Malaysia said Khairussaleh will be taking over from Datuk Seri Abdul Farid Alias, who will be leaving on April 30 after he did not seek an extension of his contract which was due to expire on Aug 1 this year.

Maybank’s chairman Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa had welcomed Khairussaleh to its board and expressed confidence that with his almost 30 years of expertise and experience, he will be able to lead Maybank in its next growth phase by focusing on areas of digitalisation, sustainability and new value drivers as laid out in the bank’s M25 plans.

Maybank also expressed its highest appreciation to Abdul Farid for his remarkable contributions, service and commitment in building a forward-looking organisation that has been ahead of many of its regional peers, especially on the digital and sustainability front.

Khairussaleh had been RHB Banking Group’s group managing director, a position he had held since May 2015.

Prior to taking over the reins at RHB, he was the managing director of RHB Bank and deputy group managing director of RHB Banking Group in mid-December 2013.

Prior to his appointments at RHB, he had served over three years at Maybank as its group chief financial officer (CFO) for three years before heading Maybank’s Indonesian operations as president-director and CEO.

“His other corporate sector experiences include positions as Group Chief Strategy Officer at Telekom Malaysia Berhad, CEO of TM Ventures and Chief Financial Officer at Bursa Malaysia Berhad, where he led the listing of the company on its own exchange in 2005. He also spent eight years at Public Bank Group in the Corporate Banking and Stockbroking/ Futures broking divisions.

“Datuk Khairussaleh holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Washington University and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School. He is also a Fellow Chartered Banker with the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers,” the statement wrote.

In the meantime, RHB has appointed Mohd Rashid Mohamad, who is the managing director, group wholesale banking, as the officer-in-charge/principal officer of the group. 

At market close on Thursday, Maybank and RHB Bank shares were unchanged at RM8.30 and RM5.54 each, valuing them at RM98.59 billion and RM22.95 billion, respectively.