But there is one man who may be the next candidate for CEO of a large bank. Dato’ Nazir Razak, 37, is the youngest son of the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia’s second prime minister and the brother of the current minister of defence, Najib Abdul Razak. Dato’ Nazir Razak became CEO of CIMB in 1999 and since then has taken an already successful but boutique merchant bank on to become the most successful in Malaysia.
CIMB floated in 2004, and has also handled (either as lead or number two) the most significant floats in the year including the largest: the ASTRO satellite business. Among a range of initiatives, CIMB has taken a majority share in PT Niaga Sekuritas, an Indonesian merchant bank and securities house. Mr Razak says that he plans to grow Niaga by acquisition in the highly fragmented Indonesian market.
