Nor Mohamed resigns from Khazanah

PETALING JAYA: The architect of Malaysia’s corporate transformation post-1998 financial crisis, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, has resigned as deputy chairman of Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

Khazanah said Nor Mohamed’s resignation was accepted at the board meeting and would take effect from Sept 30.

Nor Mohamed, who hogged the limelight recently when he was named as the dealer responsible for the foreign-exchange losses chalked up by Bank Negara in the 1990s, will also vacate his position as chairman of Khazanah Research Institute on the same date.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is also the chairman of Khazanah, commended Nor Mohamed for his work in the transformation of the government-linked companies (GLCs).

“I would like to thank Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop for his contribution to Khazanah, in particular for his work on the 10-year GLC Transformation Programme which was led by the Putrajaya Committee on GLC High Performance,” he said in a statement issued by Khazanah here yesterday,

The 70-year-old Nor Mohamed has been on the board of Khazanah since 2002 and is the longest-serving board member.

He was instrumental in beefing up the corporate sector post-1998 financial crisis that led to Khazanah taking over several large companies such as the Renong group, the UEM group and Malaysia Airlines that were held by individuals.

In 2005, he oversaw the start of the GLC transformation programme.

However, of late, Nor Mohamed hogged the limelight when he testified before the Royal Commission of Inquiry that is investigating the Bank Negara forex losses of RM32bil between 1991 and 1993. Nor Mohamed was heading Bank Negara’s forex department then and the governor was the late Tan Sri Jaafar Hussein.