KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 21): CIMB Bank Bhd chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir will be stepping down from his position effective Nov 22, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd said today.

Sources told theedgemarkets.com that he will be joining AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group) as its new group managing director.

AmBank Group (fundamental: 1.5; valuation: 2.55) has been searching for a new group MD since the departure of Ashok Ramamurthy, whose contract had ended on April 1. Datuk Mohamed Azmi Mahmood is now acting group MD of the group since April 2.

In a statement today, CIMB Group said Sulaiman will be on gardening leave with immediate effect.

"The CIMB Bank board has commenced a search to identify a successor. In the interim, the board has elected CIMB Group chief financial officer  Shahnaz Jammal as person in-charge of CIMB Bank," it added.

“We respect Datuk Sulaiman’s decision to move on. Sulaiman has been instrumental in the growth of our consumer franchise and has contributed significantly to the CIMB success story. We thank him for his efforts and wish him well for the future,” said CIMB Group CEO Tengku Datuk Zafrul Abdul Aziz said.

According to CIMB Group's website, Sulaiman, 52, has been holding the position of CEO of CIMB Bank since May 1 this year. Prior to that, he was the group's head of consumer sales and distribution division, a position he has held since July 2005.

Sulaiman has served CIMB Group (fundamental: 1.05; valuation: 2.25) for 25 years.

CIMB Group shares closed down 1% at RM4.95 today, bringing a market capitalisation of RM42.28 billion, while AmBank Group's share price fell 2.71% to close at RM4.67, with a market cap of RM14.17 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)