Two more names for Khazanah’s top post
Deutsche Bank Malaysia’s Yusof and Raja Shahreen being considered
PETALING JAYA: Two more names have emerged as possible successors to Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar as the managing director of Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
The most recent one is said to be Raja Shahreen Raja Othman, who is currently the chief executive officer of Selangor’s Menteri Besar Inc (MBI).
The other candidate is Datuk Yusof Annuar Yaacob, who is the chief executive of Deutsche Bank (Malaysia).
The other two being considered are Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) group MD Datuk Charon Mokhzani and former Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd chief executive Datuk Mohd Zafer Mohd Hashim.
Sources said the main issue surrounding the appointment of the new candidate is the remuneration package.
“Most of the candidates are already earning a substantial package and would need to take a pay cut if they were to accept the job,” said sources.
Previously, it was reported that the new government felt that the success of government-linked companies was in some parts due to the government and hence the head honchos should not earn a high salary.
Nevertheless, a new MD to replace Azman is expected to be named in the next few days. This comes after a new board of directors was appointed to Khazanah yesterday.
In a statement yesterday, it was announced that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would be the chairman of Khazanah. Also appointed is the Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed
Azmin Ali.
The other three are former Petronas president and chief executive Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican, former Bank Negara deputy governor Sukhdave Singh and former Securities Commission director Goh Ching Yin.
The new appointments come hot on the heels of the resignation of the nine members of the Khazanah board last week. All nine gave their undated resignation letters last Tuesday. It is believed that it was accepted on Saturday.
Since the changes to the board, speculation is rife on the appointment of the MD of Khazanah that has assets of RM115bil under its belt.
Raja Shahreen, 51, is also the chairman of Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd and has helmed MBSI since 2014.
Prior to his role in MBI, he was the CEO of an oil and gas company as well as Pos Malaysia Bhd’s subsidiary. He started his career with Ernst & Young.
Meanwhile, Yusof, 53, has been with Deutsche Bank since 2014 and is a chartered accountant by profession.
Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, he was the MD and chairman of the corporate finance division of Goldman Sachs Malaysia, between 2010 and 2014.
Prior to joing Goldman Sachs, Yusof was the chief financial officer of telecommunications firm Axiata Group Bhd before its demerger with Telekom Malaysia Bhd.
Charon was appointed as the new group MD of MIDF earlier this month.
He is no stranger to Khazanah, having served as the MD of Khazanah Research Institute. Prior to his role in Khazanah, he was a deputy chief executive of CIMB Group.
The other candidate is Mohd Zafer, who is an accountant by training and banker by profession.
A graduate from the London School of Economics, he was previously the president and group MD of Bank Pembangunan and had a stint in Maybank Investment as the chief financial officer.
Mohd Zafer, 48, was also a board member of Felda Global Investment Bhd when the company was going through changes after the departure of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad in June 2017.
Azman’s term as MD, a position he had held since 2004, was supposed to conclude at the end of the first quarter of next year.
Earlier, Khazanah had said that there were two internal candidates to replace Azman. They are Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz and Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn.