DATUK Sulaiman Mohd Tahir was thrown into the deep end on his very first day as group CEO of AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group). It was Nov 23, 2015, the day the country’s sixth largest banking group was hit with a hefty RM53.7 million penalty by Bank Negara Malaysia for compliance breaches.

It was a stark reminder of the challenge he had signed himself up for, and he had to hit the ground running.

“I mean, can you imagine? I came in to work, and there were these two gentlemen from the regulator ... and they said they were waiting for me. So there I was, together with the members of the team, receiving two letters which turned out to be the fine. And it was to be paid as soon as possible.

“It was the lowest point for the group,” Sulaiman tells The Edge in an interview some nine months into the job.

Indeed, he joined at a time when the banking group was in a state of flux. It got embroiled in the controversy surrounding scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) last year, and there were concerns about its exposure and potential vulnerability to the debt-laden government investment fund.

Rather than focus on the past, Sulaiman says that he would rather look at what the bank is going to do, going forward. And that was the angle he took when he called staff together for a townhall meeting on his first day.

At that point, staff morale was at its lowest. The banking group had been without a leader for almost eight months prior to Sulaiman joining. The previous CEO, Ashok Ramamurthy, a representative of its biggest shareholder ANZ Ltd, unexpectedly resigned after just three years at the helm to take on a senior role in Australia. He left ANZ earlier this year.

“Staff were despondent and unhappy ... I thought it was good that I could be with them at that point, engage them and say we need to (focus on) what to do next. What was missing at the time, was strategy,” Sulaiman shares.

The silver lining, he says, is that the group now has a chance to take a good, hard look at itself and see how it could re-shape itself so that it would continue to have a place in the fast-changing banking landscape.

“Once upon a time, we were known to be a hire purchase provider, maybe we were a good investment bank. But today, are we? That’s a question mark, right? So then the question is — what game do you want to play? Are you going to be another CIMB, another Maybank, or is it going to be a Public Bank game?”

Those were among the questions being bandied about as Sulaiman brought staff, management and directors together over a whirlwind seven weeks, to discuss what changes were needed at the bank and to formulate strategies that would chart its path to FY2020. It even sought external views to get realistic feedback on the group.

The result of that seven-week journey was its “Top 4 Aspiration” plan, which sets out 63 initiatives for the group to carry out over a four-year period. The board approved the plan on March 22, he says.

In a nutshell, the plan involves the group transforming itself to become a top four bank in Malaysia by the year ending March 31, 2020 (FY2020), by various metrics, including market capitalisation, revenue growth, return on equity, net interest margin and asset quality (see main story).

Why top four? “There’s a lot of consolidation going on in the banking industry. There used to be 38 banks, it went down to 10, and now it’s eight. We think it will be probably be five banks, four to five years down the road. So we have a situation where, if we are not going to be the top four or top five bank, we’re not going to be there.

“I like Top Four. Top Four kind of reminds people that if you don’t do, you die, that kind of thing. Four, we are sure going to be there. Five, I’m not so sure, because (the end number, post-consolidation) could be just four,” he explains.

Sulaiman says in order to make serious changes in the group, there was a need to bring in fresh blood for key positions. So far, he’s brought in a new chief compliance officer, a chief transformation officer and a chief human resource officer, and is on the lookout for a chief digital officer.

Since he came in, some of the old guard have left. A notable one was Kok Tuck Cheong, the long-serving CEO of the investment bank, AmInvestment Bank Bhd, in November last year. An AmBank Group spokesperson said at the time that Kok left upon reaching the end of his contract and the retirement age of 60.

Pushpa Rajadurai, probably one of the more senior investment bankers left at AmBank Group, took over from Kok as the acting CEO but there is industry speculation on whether she will remain at the group for much longer. She is also the group managing director of wholesale banking.

Sulaiman acknowledges that it is not realistic to expect that all 11,200 of the group’s employees will be on board with the transformation plan. However, he is clear about one thing — if they do not shape up, then they need to ship out, no matter what position they hold.

“I agree, some people may not like it. But what do you expect, we’re big, we’ve got 11,200 employees. Hence, the question is, either you are with me, or you ship out. I’m quite frank about it. If you don’t believe (in our plans), then what is the alternative (plan) — if it’s viable, I’ll take it; but if there’s none, then you’ve got to believe in ours; and if you don’t believe, then you’ve got to go — because we need to strengthen the bank.

“Sometimes, you’ve got to sacrifice the 5% or 10% to save the 90%,” he remarks.

He says he gets strong support from the directors and banking stalwart Tan Sri Azman Hashim, who is chairman and a substantial shareholder of AMMB.

“If we do the same things (like before), we get the same results. If you do things differently, you’ve a chance to do better. Only a chance, you know ... it doesn’t mean we’ll be successful, but at least there’s a chance,” he remarks.

So, is the worst over for the group? Sulaiman cannot say with certainty that it is, but at this point, he is happy with AmBank Group’s improving asset quality and the growth plans in place.

“I mean, do you have a crystal ball to say the worst is over for Malaysia as a whole? You can’t say you only live today and hope to see what happens tomorrow. And you have to prepare.”

Analysts seem to like AmBank Group’s transformation plan, but stress that it is still too early to say whether the group will be able to deliver the desired results.

“You’re not going to see an overnight change. It’s an issue of franchise building, so it will take time for the group to deliver,” says a senior banking analyst. He, however, thinks Sulaiman is “doing the right things” at this point in time to get there.

“I think he’s a hardworking and amiable person, and it’s important to note that he’s made changes at the top, brought in new blood — that can’t have been easy. He’s made an effort to engage staff at various levels, and morale already seems to have improved,” the analyst notes.

Indeed, Sulaiman, 53, is expected to face many challenges trying to inject dynamism into a sluggish bank. Many wonder why he took on the job in the first place. He had previously held a comfortable position as CEO of CIMB Bank Bhd.

The job leaves the Perak-born, who has two sons, with little spare time on his hands. He tries to make it a point to hit the gym in the wee hours of the morning — 4.30am, he says with a grin — before heading to work.

“I like challenges. I was with CIMB Group for 28 years, and I’d seen so much transformation there, but I always wondered whether I had really used the things I had learnt. I am not young anymore … so when the opportunity (at AmBank Group) came, I took it. The point is, there was an opportunity for me to shape and change things and try out the things I had learnt. This is a role that I always wanted.

“Yes, I had some trepidation (about joining)…but how bad can it be? I took a risk, but I think it is one worth taking,” he explains.

And at the end of the day, he points out optimistically about AMMB, “after you’ve hit the lowest point, the only way to go is up”. 

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