Dato’ Seri Nazir Ariff joined the Board of Directors of SME Bank and appointed as a Non-Executive Chairman of SME Bank on 18 October 2019.

He is a successful corporate figure with vast experience in various industries which among others include, banking, property, mining and commodities trading. Majoring in accountancy from the United Kingdom, he is also a Fellow of the British Institute of Management.

As an entrepreneur, he is the co-founder of the Aspen (Group) Holdings Limited and is currently the Executive Deputy Chairman. Prior to this, he was the Deputy Chairman / Executive Director at the Ivory Properties Group Berhad from 2006 until 2013. Dato’ Seri Nazir Ariff started his working career holding various key positions at Escoy Holdings Berhad (formerly known as Datuk Keramat Holdings Berhad) until the end of his tenure as the Managing Director in 2006. He was also the Chairman of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Northern Branch) from 1995 to 2018. He served as a Board member of the Kuala Lumpur Commodities Exchange and as the founding Board member and Chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market. He was also the past President of Majlis Dato-Dato Negeri Pulau Pinang.

Currently, Dato’ Seri Nazir Ariff is an Independent Director at Texchem Resources Berhad and PBA Holdings Berhad and is a Director at Thailand Smelting & Refining Co. Limited.

Dato’ Seri Nazir Ariff is also active in sports and had served as President of the Football Association of Penang from 2013 to 2017. He is also active in charity work in Penang and holds important positions in several non-government organizations such as the Children Protection Society and Penang Future Foundation.

Dato’ Muslim Hussain was appointed as an Independent Director of SME Bank on 1 September 2018.

Dato’ Muslim possessed a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Malaya in 1982, Certificate in Police High Law from Royal Malaysian Police College in 1983 and Diploma in Teaching English as Second Language (TESL) in 1977.

Dato’ Muslim has vast experience in Risk Management and Credit Policy & Portfolio Management. Dato’ Muslim has held several senior positions in Banking Sector namely Agrobank and Malayan Banking Berhad.   Dato’ Muslim has over 26 years of banking experience. Dato’ Muslim was previously the Chief Risk Officer of Agrobank from April 2011 to March 2017.

He has spent over 20 years in Malayan Banking Berhad holding various positions namely Executive Vice President / Head of Operational Risk Management from 2008 to March 2011, Vice President / Head of Department, Credit Policy and Portfolio Management Department, Credit Risk Management from 2005 to 2008, Assistant Vice President, Credit Policy, Credit Risk Management from 2003 to 2005, Assistant Vice President / Head of Portfolio Management from 2000 to 2003, Senior Executive, Credit Policy for 5 years, Senior Executive, Regional Credit Evaluation from 1992 to 1994 and Executive/ Senior Executive, Branch Credit Officer for 6 years.

Datuk Ahmad Hizzad Baharuddin was appointed as an Independent Director of SME Bank on 6 March 2019. He holds a Master of Business Administration from St. Louis University, Missouri and Bachelor in Business Studies from Eastern Illinois University, Illinois, both in the United States of America (USA).

Before his retirement, he was the Assistant Governor, Islamic Banking & Takaful Department, Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM) and has also served as Director in various departments at BNM including the Payment Systems Department and Financial Sector Development Department. He was also the Director General of Labuan Financial Services Authority.

Datuk Ahmad Hizzad is currently the Chairman of Payment Network Malaysia (PayNet) and a member of the Chartered Banker of Malaysia and awarded with fellow Chartered Banker, Asian Institute of Chartered Banker.

Zulkiflee Hashim was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director of SME Bank on 6 March 2019.

Zulkiflee has over 35 years’ experience in the banking industry. He started his career with Citibank Malaysia in 1979 and left his position as Vice President in November 1991. From December 1991 to November 1997, Zulkiflee was with Deutsche Bank Malaysia. He was the Deputy Managing Director responsible for Corporate Banking, International Trade Finance, Operations and Transaction Banking Services. From July 1998 to October 2011,Zulkiflee was the Executive Director of Hong Leong Bank Berhad (‘HLB”). Prior to his retirement in 2015, he was HLB’s Chief Operating Officer, Group Strategic Support from November 2011 to January 2015. During the tenure with HLB, he was given the responsibility to oversee various areas such as Branch and Banking Operations, Integrated Risk Management, Credit Management, Information Technology, Islamic Banking, Wholesale Operations, Retail Operations, Legal and Corporate Communications & Public Relations.

Zulkiflee graduated with a Diploma in Credit Management from Institut Teknologi MARA (now known as Universiti Teknologi MARA).

Zulkiflee is presently an Independent Non-Executive Director of GuocoLand (Malaysia) Berhad and Hong Leong MSIG Takaful Berhad. He was previously a member of Hong Leong Bank Berhad Board of Directors.

Mohd Sakeri Abdul Kadir was appointed as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director on 28 February 2019. He holds a Master in Economics from Universiti Putra Malaysia, Bachelor of Arts in Mathematical Economics from Temple University, United States of America (USA) and Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration from National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN).

He has more than 25 years of experience in the public services sector, especially with the Ministry of Finance (MOF). Prior to the current appointment as the Undersecretary to the Statutory Body Management Division, he was the Deputy Undersecretary, Tax Division and the Deputy Director of the National Budget Office, MOF.

Dato’ Mohammad Radhi Abdul Razak was appointed as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director on 9 October 2020.

He has more than 28 years of experience serving in various ministries such as the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of International Trade & Industry and the Economic Planning Unit, Ministry of Economic Affairs. He is currently the Deputy Secretary General for Policy & Monitoring at the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development & Cooperatives. Prior to this, he was the Director of Development Budget at the Economic Planning Unit, Ministry of Economic Affairs.

He holds a Masters degree in Development Finance from Hiroshima University, Japan and a Bachelors degree in Economics (HONS.) from Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

Wan Abdul Rahman Wan Abu Bakar (“Encik Wan Abdul Rahman”) was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director of SME Bank on 11 January 2021.

He holds a Bachelor of Art in Business Management from University of Sunderland, United Kingdom and Diploma in Banking Studies from MARA University of Technology (UiTM). He is an Associate Member of the Asian Institute of Chartered Banker since 1981. He has attended BMP Managerial Process and Practice at Asian Institute of Management Manila Philippines. He has also attended Carl Samuelson’s Risk Analysis and Decisions Making Model by Carl Samuelson of JB Morgan of New York and KMDC Strategy Execution Program, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Wan Abdul Rahman has over 30 years of experience in the fields of investment and corporate as well as commercial & SME banking in both conventional and Syariah banking having served in various senior positions at CIMB Bank , CIMB Investment Bank, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad and Asian Finance Bank Berhad.

Suharti Mohd Ali was appointed as an Independent Director on 1 March 2021. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Universiti Utara Malaysia and a Diploma in Public Administration (English) from MARA Institute of Technology, Shah Alam.

Suharti started her working experience in the education industry but later found her career with Jabatan Telekom Malaysia which she joined in 1980. In the 34 years with Telekom, she worked almost in all areas of the organization from Public Relations, Sales & Outlet Management and Credit Management before finally becoming a Business Analyst in the CASS Project. This marked the beginning of a new career phase in IT.

She started as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in Credit Management and also the IT Manager for the Credit Management Division, where she successfully developed and deployed a nationwide Credit Management program for Telekom Malaysia, called eQuest which was still in use until very recently.

After that her career in IT progressed in Project Management as she managed and delivered various large IT projects. This included the overarching Customer Management System which was a nationwide rollout for TM’s wireline business.

The last project she delivered was the most significant, as it was the Private Public Partnership Project (PPP) between TM and the Malaysian Government. She managed the delivery of all the OSS (Operation Support System) and BSS (Business Support Systems) to enable the launch of Malaysia’s High Speed Broadband project in the Klang Valley within 8 months. This OSS and BSS Project codenamed NOVA is, an end-to-end platform which delivered the CRM, Fulfillment and Activation, Inventory and Billing as well as Assurance capabilities for the National HSBB initiative.

The successful completion of this HSBB Project in TM made her the candidate for Celcom Axiata’s Director of IT Transformation in 2011, when Celcom embarked on its nationwide Transformation Program, delivering another BSS for the whole Mobile business.

She left the industry in 2017 to pursue areas of work she has passion for: education, motivation in project management and health. She has since been invited to speak in various conferences locally and Internationally. She is currently a Director and Shareholder of CEIL Sdn. Bhd., a company that trades in oil and gas, gold and sand mining, supply of military and health/ medical products and heavy electrical equipment.

Dato’ Sharkawi Alis was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director of SME Bank on 1 April 2021.

He is a Barrister-at-Law from Middle Temple, London, where he was called in 1971. Thereafter, he was admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 1984.

He served in the Malaysian Judicial and Legal Service in various capacities for eleven (11) years before he was appointed as Group Legal Adviser of Malaysia Mining Corporation Berhad in August 1982. In January 1997, he joined the Securities Commission Malaysia as Director of Market Supervision and subsequently in 2000, he was appointed as the Director of Corporate Resources Division until March 2003.

Presently, Dato Sharkawi sits on the Board of Permodalan Satok Berhad and Yayasan Hartanah Bumiputera Sarawak.

Previously, Dato’ Sharkawi was the Chairman of MNRB Holdings Berhad and its group companies.

He was a Director of Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad (“MIDF”), MIDF Investment Bank Berhad and other subsidiaries of MIDF between 2005 to 2016. He was also a former Director of Development Bank of Sarawak where he served between 2017 to 2020.