New rules mar Nazir’s future as CIMB chairman

Under the Bank Negara rules issued early this month, chief executive officers of financial institutions are prohibited from taking over as chairmen.
The guidelines also stipulate that financial institutions must have a majority of independent directors on their boards.
While the rules will not be applied retroactively, bankers say they could have implications for Nazir when his position as board director comes up next year for renewal by the bank’s nomination committee.
Nazir, the younger brother of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, served as CIMB’s CEO from 1999-2014, before becoming chairman of the group.
CIMB executives did not respond to requests for comment.
The central bank guidelines are aimed at clearly separating the powers of the board and management.
A senior central bank official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bank Negara wanted to avoid situations where a “chairman could be in a position to oversee policies that were put in place when that person was CEO”.
The new rules have already forced Najib’s administration to rework at least one top-level appointment at a government-linked business entity.
Senior aides to Najib say the premier had planned to appoint Abdul Wahid Omar, who was minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of economic planning, as chairman of Maybank when he stepped down from the Cabinet in June.
However, Wahid was president and CEO of Maybank, the country’s largest lender, from 2008-13.
He is now chairman of government trust fund agency Permodalan Nasional.