[UPDATE]: Muhammad Ibrahim is the new Bank Negara Governor
The Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz will be leaving the central bank on 30th April after leading the institution for 16 years.
Zeti's replacement will be announced by the government, although to date no official announcements have been made.
Under the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009, if no announcement is made until Zeti's departure, the Deputy Governor will act as the Governor until the official announcement.
Zeti, when interviewed during the Financial Stability dan Payment Reports presentation in March said that she will not stay as governor as soon as her contract ends.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in March said the government will announce her replacement soon after the Yang Dipertuan Agong approves the candidate.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in March also reported that Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah will be heading the central bank replacing Zeti.
On April 24, Bloomberg cited a few names as potential candidates to replace the highly respected governor in its report.
Among them are Deputy Governor Muhammad Ibrahim, Minister in Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, and former Malaysian Ambassador to United States Datuk Awang Adek Hussin.
Meanwhile, a local English news daily also reported that Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Tabung Haji (TH) Tan Sri Ismee Ismail as among the candidates to replace the central bank's top post.
This is due to the rumors that he is leaving TH, but speculations said that he will be joining Sime Darby Berhad, replacing President and Chief Executive Officer an Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh.
These are the candidates listed by Bloomberg:
Deputy Governor Muhammad Ibrahim
Muhammad joined the central bank in 1984 and has been deputy governor since June 2010. He oversees international reserve management, and money market and foreign exchange operations. He has served in areas from banking supervision and regulation, to insurance and offshore banking.
Muhammad was previously managing director at Danamodal Nasional Bhd, a bank recapitalization agency created during the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s. He has a master's degree from Harvard University.
Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Finance Ministry's top bureaucrat
Irwan, secretary-general of the Treasury, started his government career in the Economic Planning Unit in 1984 and in 2003 joined the Finance Ministry, where he held various positions.
Irwan has a Ph.D. in economics from the International Islamic University Malaysia and holds a master's degree in energy management and policy from the University of Pennsylvania. He sits on the boards of state oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), and one of Malaysia's biggest pension funds. Irwan is part of the central bank's board of directors.
Abdul Wahid Omar, government minister and former banker
The son of a factory worker who grew up in poverty, Wahid earned his British accounting degree through a government scholarship and has been a promoter of Malaysia's affirmative-action policy aimed at helping ethnic Malays.
Wahid has held top management positions in several government-linked companies and was chief executive officer of Malayan Banking Bhd, the country's biggest lender. Najib appointed him as minister in charge of economic planning in 2013. Two past CEOs of Maybank went on to become central bank governors. Wahid currently heads the Economic Planning Unit, which served as a launchpad for another former Bank Negara chief.
Awang Adek Hussin, former ambassador to the United States
The former deputy finance minister has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School -- Zeti's alma mater.
He worked at the central bank for more than a decade from 1985 in departments including economics and banking regulation, and later became an assistant governor. He was appointed U.S. ambassador in 2014 and his term ended this month.
