This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 23, 2024 - December 29, 2024

DATUK Muhamad Umar Swift, CEO and executive director of Bursa Malaysia Bhd (KL:BURSA), is understood to be looking to leave the stock exchange operator and his position could be taken up by Datuk Fad’l Mohamed, who is currently managing director of group wholesale banking at RHB Bank Bhd (KL:RHBBANK), sources familiar with the matter tell The Edge.

Attempts to contact Muhamad Umar to confirm his departure were futile as he was travelling and, similarly, Fad’l was not contactable as well to confirm or deny the appointment to the top job at Bursa Malaysia. Meanwhile, a message to Bursa Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar on Muhamad Umar’s leaving and Fad’l taking over did not garner a response.

However, two sources familiar with the matter say that they have heard that Muhamad Umar, who turned 60 this year, is looking to leave after having had a stellar 2024. He was appointed to Bursa Malaysia by its board of directors as CEO on Feb 11, 2019, and is understood to have received one extension.

“[Muhamad Umar] has actually been looking to leave for a while now,” one source says.

Another source says Muhamad Umar’s departure has been talked about for some time, but only now is it more or less confirmed that he is leaving and that Fad’l, who joined RHB Bank in February this year as managing director of group wholesale banking, will take over.

“I heard there was a list of candidates but Fad’l is the chosen one,” the second source says.

Muhamad Umar, prior to taking the top job at Bursa Malaysia, was the managing director and CEO of insurer MAA Group Bhd; a director of Columbus Capital Pty Ltd; was with Malayan Banking Bhd (KL:MAYBANK), where he was head of the enterprise financial services group; and with Deloitte Consulting, among others.

Prior to RHB, Fad’l had a stint of almost a decade with Maybank, where his last position at the country’s largest banking group was as CEO of Maybank Investment Bank.

Fad’l, who is known to be a hard worker, began his career as a lawyer at Messrs Rashid & Lee in 1991 and two years later joined regulator Securities Commission Malaysia before shifting to investment banking outfit Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. He has also been an entrepreneur, having been the founder of Maestro Capital Sdn Bhd, a licensed corporate finance adviser looking specifically at mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and initial public offerings, in 2004. Fad’l was with Maestro Capital for 11 years and left to join Maybank Investment Bank.

“Basically, Fad’l understands the markets and will keep the momentum going,” the second source explains.

Bursa Malaysia this year has performed well, with 55 initial public offerings (IPOs), which is 37% higher than the initial target of 42 IPOs for the year. In stark contrast, in 2023, there were 32 IPOs. The 55 flotation exercises this year are the highest since 2005. The targeted number of IPOs in 2025 is 50.

The benchmark FBM KLCI is up almost 10% year to date, positioning Bursa Malaysia as among the best-performing markets in Asean.

Trading momentum is building, with investors setting up 289,000 new trading accounts during the first seven months of 2024, or almost double as many as those opened during the whole of 2023, news reports state.

In early May this year, Bursa Malaysia’s main index broke the 1,600-point level, nudging overall market capitalisation of the local stocks to RM2.05 trillion, breaching the RM2 trillion mark for the first time in history.

Year to date, the average daily trading value has breached the RM3.4 billion band from RM2.06 billion in 2023. For the first half of 2024, Bursa Malaysia led Asean IPOs, raising US$450 million, a 33% market share of the region’s IPO market.

With the positivism surrounding the local bourse, Bursa Malaysia chalked up net profits of RM241.22 million on the back of RM598.39 million for the first nine months of 2024, ending Sept 30. For the corresponding period a year ago, the regulator managed to register net profits of RM192.82 million on revenue of RM459.8 million.

“The International Monetary Fund, in its October 2024 World Economic Outlook report, maintained its 2024 global growth projection at 3.2% while revising Malaysia’s 2024 growth projection upward to 4.8% from an earlier projection of 4.4% in July.

“The World Bank, in its October 2024 Malaysia Economic Monitor report, revised Malaysia’s economic growth projection for 2024 to 4.9% from an earlier projection of 4.3% in April, following the stronger-than-anticipated economic performance in the first half of 2024.

“The Malaysian government, in its Budget 2025 Economic Outlook report, forecasted that Malaysia’s economy would expand between 4.8% and 5.3%, propelled by robust domestic demand and recovery in exports … The exchange remains focused on its outreach and widening investor participation through initiatives such as the Bursa Marketplace Fair and Invest Malaysia series.”

Last Friday, Bursa Malaysia ended trading at RM8.79, translating to a market capitalisation of RM7.11 billion.
 

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