This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 9, 2019 - April 15, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd, which is in the midst of cleaning up its books to get back on the right track following accusations of lax lending practices, has appointed Arshad Mohamed Ismail as its new president-cum-group chief executive officer (CEO).

Arshad’s appointment took effect yesterday, Bank Pembangunan said in a statement. This came about two months after Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan took over the chairmanship of the bank on Feb 18, with the pledge that the bank would start afresh “as soon as possible”.

Prior to his appointment, Arshad was head of global banking business at Maybank Islamic Bhd, where he oversaw the bank’s corporate banking, trade finance and investment banking business lines, the bank said.

A lawyer by training, Arshad had a stint at Messrs Mohamed Ismail & Co, where he specialised in corporate law, banking and finance law, as well as Islamic banking and finance law, when he started his career in 1995.

Then in early 2003, he joined CIMB Islamic as one of its pioneer members before relocating to the United Arab Emirates in late 2004 to join HSBC Amanah as the head of Islamic capital markets.

“At HSBC Amanah, Arshad and his team originated and worked on many innovative and groundbreaking sukuk transactions in the Gulf Cooperation Council region and Southeast Asia. The other roles he has held include head of asset management at Aayan Capital, a boutique investment bank based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and head of corporate finance and advisory at Al Hilal Bank, an Islamic bank based in Abu Dhabi,” the statement read.

Arshad then returned to Malaysia in 2011 to join the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp as executive director, origination and structuring.

 Bank Pembangunan made headlines earlier this year over loans it gave out to politically-connected parties, including Integrated Resort Sdn Bhd and Garuda Suci Sdn Bhd, which built and operated the St Regis Langkawi and Langkawi International Convention Centre. The two companies are linked to Indonesian businessman Tan Sri Peter Sondak.