‘The sun is setting on my time in CIMB’

KUALA LUMPUR (September 25): In an Instagram post yesterday, with a picture of himself and the setting sun as the background, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak wrote that “the sun is setting on my time in CIMB”, as he revealed he would be stepping down as chairman of CIMB Group by Dec 31.

“Over the last 29 years, I have had the privilege of a front row seat on the amazing CIMB journey from fledgling corporate finance franchise to leading Malaysian investment bank to an Asean universal bank. Thank you CIMB, #teamCIMB and #CIMBalumni,” Nazir wrote.

In a media statement sent out at around the same time, CIMB Group announced that Nazir will be relinquishing not just his chairmanship, but also all other positions he holds within the entity by the same date.

“The CIMB board of directors will now activate its succession plan to decide on the next chairman and the exact date of [the] handover,” said CIMB.
Until then, CIMB said Nazir’s priorities will be to complete CIMB’s four-year transformation programme “T18”, to finalise CIMB’s new strategic blueprint and ensure a smooth handover to his successor.

Nazir, who is also a brother to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has served CIMB for 29 years since 1989. This includes a tenure of 15 years as group chief executive officer (CEO), as well as his current position as group chairman since 2014.

“Under his leadership, CIMB grew from a fledgling corporate finance franchise into a top Malaysian investment bank, and was later transformed into a leading universal bank in Asean,” said CIMB.

CIMB was listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2003 when Nazir was CEO, and debuted with a market capitalisation of RM1.5 billion at the time. That has grown to RM58 billion as at June 30, 2018, with assets of RM515 billion, compared with a mere RM9.6 billion in 2003, the bank added.

In the statement, Nazir said he felt “it would be most appropriate” to leave upon completion of T18 after having considered his departure for a few weeks.

“After all, my career mission has been to build CIMB into a leading Asean financial institution. As T18 comes to a close, CIMB is now financially strong, organisationally robust and firmly institutionalised. We have an excellent management team led by Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz and an impressive cadre of future leaders lined up behind them.

“The firm’s continued success after my departure will affirm that my CIMB mission has, indeed, been accomplished,” he added.

Meanwhile, CIMB senior independent director Datuk Mohd Nasir Ahmad said, on behalf of CIMB Group’s board of directors, that the group is “saddened to be losing” Nazir, but respects his decision.

“Datuk Seri Nazir Razak’s visionary leadership, business acumen and professionalism have made CIMB a well-recognised, leading banking institution in Asean, and the group’s continued success is a testament of his legacy.

“As chairman, he has always supported the directors in carrying out their duties in accordance with the principles of good governance, transparency and accountability, with the mission of creating sustainable value for all our stakeholders,” said Mohd Nasir.

CIMB Group CEO Tengku Zafrul described Nazir as “a pillar of support, a great mentor and above all, a highly valued friend”, with whom he has had the privilege to work with.

Saying that CIMB’s present position in Asean is a testament to Nazir’s vision, Tengku Zafrul added: “He has always prioritised value creation for all stakeholders and the group’s business sustainability, a philosophy that the management has also embraced.”

CIMB Group is listed on Bursa Malaysia via CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, which lost four sen or 0.66% to close at RM6.03 yesterday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM56.47 billion.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Sept 25, 2018.

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