KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 6): Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) is restructuring its boardroom as it prepares to merge with Asian Finance Bank Bhd (AFB).

This results in four board members resigning today and being appointed as new board members at AFB.

Three of them, namely Datuk Johar Che Mat, Tunku Alina Raja Muhd Alias and Aw Hong Boo, were appointed as independent non-executive directors, while Sazaliza Zainuddin was appointed as non-independent non-executive director at AFB.

Che Mat, Alina and Aw were independent directors on the board of MBSB while Sazaliza was a non-executive director.

MBSB said the new appointments will take place upon completion of the acquisition by MBSB of AFB.

On the other hand, two other board members quit due to other business commitments. They are Datuk Syed Zaid Syed Jaffar Albar and Datuk Jasmy Ismail, who resigned as MBSB's non-executive director and independent director, respectively.

This leaves five directors on MBSB's board: Tan Sri Abdul Halim as chairman, who is also a non-independent and non-executive director like Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, and three other independent non-executive directors: Lim Tian Huat, Moslim Othman and Lynette Yeow Su Yin.

On Jan 23, MBSB said it received approval by shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting and court convened meeting to go ahead with its proposed acquisition of AFB.

With the shareholders' approval, MBSB will be acquiring AFB for RM644.95 million, a deal that would give the non-bank lender a licence to become a full-fledged Islamic bank.

MBSB shares closed down three sen or 2.48% to RM1.18, with 23.17 million shares traded, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM7 billion. — theedgemarkets.com

For more stories, download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.