KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (CIMB) has announced the appointment of Datuk Syed Zaid Albar as its group chairman, effective July 20, 2025.

He will succeed Tan Sri Mohd Nasir Ahmad, who will retire from the board on July 19, 2025. In line with the transition, Syed Zaid will be appointed as an independent non-executive director effective June 18, 2025.

Mohd Nasir said Syed Zaid’s leadership and extensive corporate experience across legal industry, financial and regulatory landscape will bring valuable perspective in guiding CIMB through its next chapter of growth and transformation.

“We are confident that his stewardship will provide strong guidance in driving the success of the group’s Forward30 strategic plan,” he said In a statement today, .

CIMB Group said that Syed Zaid is a lawyer with four decades of experience across a broad range of practice areas, with a strong focus on financial services and corporate advisory.

He stepped away from legal practice in 2018 to assume the role of executive chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), a position he held until mid-2022.

“During his tenure at SC, he played a key role in strengthening the governance, regulatory oversight and the development of Malaysia’s capital markets, both domestically and internationally,” it said.

Novan Amirudin, group chief executive officer of CIMB Group, said that the company looks forward to being guided by Syed Zaid as the bank executes its Forward30 strategic plan over the next six years, which anchors on the group’s purpose of advancing customers and society.

“Our goal is to be the top-of-mind Asean bank, reimagining banking by embedding ourselves into our customers lives and keeping our customers at the heart of everything we do,” he added. — Bernama