Maybank today announced the appointment of three new independent directors to the Board of Maybank namely Tan Sri Datuk Dr Hadenan Jalil, Dato' Seri Ismail Shahudin and Dato' Dr Tan Tat Wai effective 15 July 2009.
Tan Sri Datuk Dr Hadenan, 63, was Auditor General from 2000-2006. As a top-level former civil servant, he served with the Government for 36 years in various capacities in the Treasury, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Works, prior to his appointment as Auditor General. He is currently Chairman of Takaful Malaysia Berhad, ICB Islamic Bank Ltd (Bangladesh) and PNB Property Holdings Sdn Bhd. He is also Chairman of the Operations Review Panel of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Dato' Seri Ismail Shahudin, 58, was Chairman of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad from 2004 until his retirement in July 2008. A seasoned banker, he has held senior positions in Citibank serving both in Malaysia and New York, United Asian Bank and Maybank where he was appointed Executive Director in 1997. He left Maybank in 2002 to assume the position of Group Chief Executive Officer of MMC Corporation Berhad prior to his appointment to the Board of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad. Dato' Seri Ismail is currently on the board of UEM Group Berhad, PLUS Expressways Berhad, Aseana Properties Limited, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, SMPC Corporation Berhad, EP Manufacturing Berhad and several other private limited companies.
Dato' Dr Tan Tat Wai, 63, is a well-respected economist by profession and started his career with Bank Negara Malaysia in 1978 undertaking research in economic policies and was subsequently appointed consultant to Bank Negara Malaysia, the World Bank and the United Nations University for several years. He served as the Secretary and a member on the Council of Malaysian Invisible Trade set up to formulate policies to reduce Malaysia's deficit in service trade. He represents Malaysia as a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council. Dato' Dr Tan is currently the Group Managing Director of Southern Steel Berhad, a post he held since 1983. He is also a director of Shangri-la Hotels (Malaysia) Berhad, Titan Chemicals Corp Berhad and Natsteel Ltd, a plc in Singapore.
Meanwhile, Maybank also announced that two of its existing directors, Tuan Haji Mohd Hashir Haji Abdullah and Tan Sri Dato' Sri Chua Hock Chin will step down as directors of the Board effective 15 July 2009.
The appointments represent a significant development in the on-going transition and succession planning exercise implemented by the Maybank Board of Directors following an initiative formulated in 2007. The first phase of this broad and holistic review of the composition of the Board of Directors saw the retirement of three long serving directors from the Board in September 2007. This continuous process, driven by the Board itself, subsequently witnessed further changes to the Board. In addition to the appointments announced today, the exercise has involved three new appointments and six resignations, not including the positions of executive directors, which also changed during the same period.
In the interest of the organisation, the execution of the transition and succession planning exercise also takes cognizance of the need to maintain elements of continuity in the composition, proceedings and stability of the Board. The Board's transition and succession planning exercise is designed in line with international best practices on Board governance and effectiveness.
Maybank Chairman Tan Sri Mohamed Basir bin Ahmad said, "In welcoming our new directors to the Maybank Board, I would also like to place on record our sincere appreciation to our outgoing directors Tuan Haji Hashir and Tan Sri Chua. Their service, commitment and dedication to the Board have been truly commendable and exemplary.
As a Board, our priority has always been to ensure that the composition of the Board is such that members possess the necessary critical competencies to continuously rejuvenate and strengthen the Board's prevailing skills mix in order to better position the Maybank Group in facing the challenges ahead of us."
"We have embarked on a journey of strategic transformation to build on our leadership capabilities both in Malaysia and the region. In the past year, we have seen a transition in leadership at senior management level and to date, we have set in motion a number of intensive measures to strengthen process structures, service standards and build on our human capital resources.
Our incoming directors are well respected individuals with solid records of performance and integrity. They will be an asset to the Board and to the Maybank Group in terms of collective wisdom and corporate advice," he added.
With the new appointments in line with good corporate governance practice, the Maybank Board of Directors comprises a total of eight directors, four of whom are independent non-executive directors.