This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 9, 2024 - September 15, 2024

MALAYAN Banking Bhd (KL:MAYBANK) is looking to appoint Michael Oh-Lau as the CEO of its investment banking arm, Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB), a role he is expected to hold in addition to his current position as CEO of Maybank Investment Banking Group (MIBG), sources say.

This is, however, subject to Bank Negara Malaysia’s approval.

“Maybank submitted his name to Bank Negara. It’s going through the process,” a source tells The Edge.

The move comes as Maybank aims to consolidate the CEO roles of its Malaysian (Maybank IB) and regional (MIBG) investment banking entities as a cost-saving initiative, among other reasons, sources say.

Maybank IB’s previous CEO, Datuk Fad’l Mohamed, resigned in January to join rival RHB Bank Bhd (KL:RHBBANK) as the managing director of group wholesale banking. Following his departure, Maybank IB chief operating officer Tengku Ariff Azhar Tengku Mohamed was appointed as officer-in-charge. A few months after Fad’l left, another senior banker from Maybank IB, Kevin Davies, joined RHB as the managing director and CEO of RHB Investment Bank Bhd.

Thus far, the CEO role at Maybank IB has yet to be filled.

“They’ve decided to do away with the Malaysia head role and combine it with the regional head role. So, it’s [Oh-Lau’s] job, subject to Bank Negara approval,” a source says.

Maybank declined to comment when contacted by The Edge.

Industry observers note that such a move would represent a return to the group’s previous operating model, where one CEO would be in charge of both the local and regional entities. Recall that Datuk John Chong was the CEO of Maybank IB as well as MIBG from January 2014 to September 2018. (MIBG was previously known as Maybank Kim Eng Group). Chong is currently Maybank’s group CEO of global banking.

Oh-Lau has been with the Maybank group for almost three decades and has extensive wholesale banking experience, covering investment and corporate banking services. He was appointed as the CEO of MIBG in December 2022, replacing Datuk Ami Moris who retired from the group.

As CEO of MIBG, he oversees the investment banking, advisory, research, broking and prime broking services in Malaysia and across MIBG’s regional platform.

Oh-Lau is understood to have been instrumental in designing and implementing the repayment assistance programmes for corporate clients from the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the first six months of the financial year ending Dec 31, 2024, Maybank’s total income from the group investment banking portfolio stood at RM765.7 million. This was higher than the RM564 million in the corresponding year-ago period. 

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