Govt looking at three candidates to replace Azman

PETALING JAYA: The Government is looking at three candidates to replace Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar.

One is said to be Datuk Charon Mokhzani, who is now group managing director of Malaysian Industrial Development Finance.

He was previously managing director of Khazanah Research Institute and deputy chief executive of CIMB Group.

The other candidate is Datuk Mohd Zafer Mohd Hashim, who is an accountant by training and banker by profession.

A graduate from London School of Economics, he was previously president and group managing director of Bank Pembangunan and had a stint in Maybank Investment as the chief financial officer.

Zafer 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.

The identity of the third candidate could not be ascertained.

However, sources said that he was someone who has a strong background in international business and finance.

Sources said the candidates were being interviewed by some of the previous board members of Khazanah such as Tan Sri Mohd Nor Mohd Yusof.

It is learnt that Mohd Nor, who was recently appointed chairman of Lembaga Tabung Haji, is likely to be retained on the board of Khazanah.

On Thursday, all nine members of the Khazanah board, including managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar and Mohd Nor, tendered their undated resignation letters to the Government, ending 11 weeks of speculation on Khazanah’s fate.

Sources said the new appointments to the Khazanah board could come in the next few days, and there would not be changes to the structure of the sovereign wealth fund, which had listed assets of more than RM150bil.

“The Government is likely to keep the structure of Khazanah intact,” said a source.

Azman’s term as managing director, a position he has held since 2004, was supposed to conclude at the end of the first quarter of next year.

Khazanah has two internal candidates to replace him. They are Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin Raja Abdul Aziz and Ahmad Zulqarnian Onn.