Datuk Wira (Dr.) Aria Putera Ismail has over 20 years of experiences in the banking and investment industry. His specific expertise includes achieving financial goals and providing Shariah compliant solutions, deals originations/negotiations and product innovations across jurisdictions to improve profitability and transactional efficiency.

Datuk Wira Aria (Dr.) is a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA), majoring in Islamic Banking and Finance from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). He is currently spearheading the transformation of culture, business and digital programs which will unleash the true potential of the Bank to be the leading Development Financial Institution (DFI) in Malaysia. Few strategic measures and plans were introduced to address issues pertaining to SMEs especially on accessibility to funding and improving wellbeing of micro, small and medium enterprises. He is also leading the utilization of advanced technology and artificial intelligence in the Bank’s operations to benefit the entire SMEs life cycle. For his dedication and commitment to his work, he was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate from Lincoln University College in Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Management and was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).

He is an active Council Member of Association of Development Financial Institution of Malaysia (ADFIM) which connects the members from both local DFIs and government entrepreneur development organizations (EDOs), formerly Chairman of ADFIM from September 2018 to April 2021. In addition, he is an active Board Member of Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP). He was also an active Board Member of Financial Industry Collective Outreach (FINCO) which aims to provide underprivileged children and youth with the guidance and educational tools they need to achieve their life goals between year 2018 and 2021.

Prior to SME Bank, he was the President Director / Chief Executive Officer of Maybank Syariah Indonesia (MSI). He was responsible for Shariah compliant Treasury Solutions, Deals Originations/Negotiations and Product Innovations across jurisdictions to improve profitability and transactional efficiency. Previously, he was the Director/Executive Vice President, Global Markets Islamic of Maybank Islamic Berhad (MIB), the largest Islamic Bank in the Asia Pacific region.

Datuk Wira (Dr.) Aria was also the General Manager of Global Markets Islamic at Hong Leong Islamic Bank and successfully established the first Islamic window in Hong Kong. In year 2000, Datuk Wira (Dr.) Aria started his career with Maybank Finance Berhad as an officer prior joining Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM) in year 2001.

Datuk Dr. Mohammad Hardee Ibrahim has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry specialising in business banking and strategic management.

Prior to joining SME Bank, he was the Executive Director of Goldman Sachs and Portfolio Manager of Investment Operations & Financial Market at Bank Negara Malaysia.

He holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Essex and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Management from Lincoln University. He is also a registered Chartered Accountant (CA) with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and qualified Chartered Banker (CB) with Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers/Chartered Banker Institute UK. He completed his Advance Management and Leadership Programme at SAID Business School, University of Oxford.

He joined SME Bank in October 2018 to assume the position of Chief Banking Officer and was promoted to Group Chief Corporate Strategy Officer in February 2021.

Encik Samad is a Chartered Banker of the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB), Chartered Accountant (CA) with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants as well as Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) of CPA Australia. He graduated with a degree majoring in Accounting and Finance from the University of Western Australia and later obtained his MBA specialising in Information Technology Management from Multimedia University.

Prior to joining SME Bank in 2021 as the Group Chief Financial Officer where he oversees the group Finance, Treasury and Procurement functions, Encik Samad was the Group Chief Operating Officer of Affin Hwang Investment Bank Berhad. Encik Samad started his career in External Assurance in one of the big 4 audit firm in 1995 before joining the Management Audit team of Sime Darby Berhad. His previous work experiences also include being the CFO in the financial industry for more than 10 years and held managerial positions in Equity Capital Markets and Stockbroking Operations.

Hairil Izwar Abd Rahman began his career with Mayban Finance for two years before joining Telekom Malaysia (TM) for more than 15 years in various divisions and subsidiary companies of the TM Group. During his tenure with TM, he gained extensive exposures in Business Development and Big Data Analytics.

Hairil Izwar had successfully introduced and implemented multiple impactful projects including a few major Government’s Big Data Analytics projects, smart partnership, digital lifestyle, sales coverage, e-form and biometric projects that improved the organizations’ performance while holding the position as Head, SME Business Development at TM SME.

Hairil Izwar holds a Bachelor in Business Finance (Hons) from Universiti Utara Malaysia and accomplished the Digital Transformation Journey Program from IMD Business School, Lausanne, Switzerland. He joined SME Bank on 12 November 2018 to assume the position as the Group Chief Digital & Technology Transformation Officer.

Pn Hajjah Zarina graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Accounting degree from Bristol University, United Kingdom. She is a Certified Credit Practitioner (IBBM) and has an Associate Qualification in Islamic Finance (AQIF) from IBFIM. Additionally, she has also attended an Executive Program at Judge Business School, Cambridge University in 2019.

She carries with her a total of 28 years of working experience with SME Bank, of which her previous role was as Chief Credit Officer of SME Bank since 2019. She is a true-blue SME Banker and has served the Bank since inception in various departments and positions which include Credit, SME Loans, Credit Operations, Credit Approval and Recovery, and Corporate Communications.

Mohd Fikri Abdul Ghapar had previously served as the Head of Legal at Maybank Islamic Berhad before joining SME Bank in May 2019. Early in his career, Fikri was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1997 and became an advocate and solicitor focusing on civil litigation especially debt recovery and commercial disputes.

He thereafter ventures into the corporate scene as an in-house legal counsel with various financial institutions in both conventional and Islamic banking amassing comprehensive experience in financial as well as numerous corporate exercises. His specialisation in Islamic finance and services exposed him to various foreign jurisdictions mainly the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia.

Mohd Fikri graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the International Islamic University Malaysia.

Hasrul Farid carries with him more than 24 years of experience in the banking industry, which includes 18 years of experience in the Internal Audit function. He was the Chief Internal Auditor at Agrobank since 2013, where he has successfully formulated, strategised, led, organised, and controlled the overall effective Internal Audit functions, and realigned audit strategies following the Bank’s Strategic Business Plan. He has also previously served several Financial Institutions such as UOB Bank, Asian Finance Bank, Bank Rakyat, Southern Bank, RHB Bank, and Bank of Nova Scotia in various capacities.

He holds a Master of Business Administration, majoring in Applied Finance and Investment from UKM (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia), and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in Finance from Drexel University, Philadelphia, United States of America.

Hasrul Farid is an Associate Member of the IIAM (Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia), and an Associate Member of the AICB (Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers). He is a certified CIAFIN (Certified Internal Auditor for Financial Institution), AICB, a certified PEC (Prior Experience Conversion Programme) - certification for Bank Auditors, AICB, and a certified AQIF (Associate Qualification in Islamic Finance), IBFIM. He has also completed the Advanced Management Programme (AMP 125) at INSEAD, France, and graduated on 28th July 2022. Hasrul Farid joined SME Bank on 10th June 2019 to assume the position of Group Chief Internal Auditor.

Mohammad Azam Ahmad carries with him more than 25 years of experience in the Banking industry including 15 years of experience in risk management spanning from credit, market, liquidity and operational risk management.

Prior to joining SME Bank, Azam was the Head of Risk Management, Group Global Banking in Maybank since 2012 and previously served reputable organizations such as Standard Chartered and Central Bank of Malaysia.

He holds a Master of Economics and International Finance from University of Queensland and Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from London School of Economics, United Kingdom.

Azam joined SME Bank on 1 August 2019 to assume the position of Group Chief Risk Officer.

Prior to joining SME Bank, He was the Head of Shariah Advisory and Acting Head of Shariah at Hong Leong Islamic Bank(HLISB) where he was exposed with wide range of commercial banking products and instruments. During his time at HLISB, He was instrumental in advising various Sukuk Structures and Structured Products. . He also exposed to advanced capital market analysis and further certified by London Stock Exchange.

Previously, he was also exposed with retail based banking, during his stint at Bank Simpanan Nasional a wholly government owned bank, where he assumed a similar role as the Head, Shariah Division. He was instrumental in developing inaugural Shariah Governance Framework, at Bank Simpanan Nasional. He pursued and completed his Masters equivalent, Chartered Islamic Finance professional (CIFP), at INCEIF and possesses advanced leadership certificate from CASS Business School of London

He currently assume the position of Head, Group Shariah Division, SME Bank, spearheading the governance and operational of Shariah function, particularly on establishing and streamlining the Shariah Governance and refining the existing product structures and operations of Islamic Bank. He continues to inspire and sharing his passion towards the beauty of Islamic Banking at both local and international conference.

Puan Shu is an MBA graduate from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia in 2009. She has also previously completed her bachelor’s degree and diploma educations at a local university. She carries with her a total of 29 years of working experience, of which over 22 years was in a senior management capacity including at regional level.

Prior to joining SME Bank, Puan Shu was a General Manager of Human Resource & Corporate Services in one of the leading financial institutions in Malaysia that specialises in Insurance. She was accountable for the areas of human resources, property, procurement and logistics. Her previous work experiences cover the full spectrum of human capital development and management in various multinational companies and industries such as electronic, manufacturing, research & development, as well as retail.

Encik Nizam graduated with a Bachelor of Finance from Lamar University, United States of America and is certified in OMEGA Performance Credit Skills Assessment. In 2020, he obtained an MBA specialising in Management from a local university.

He carries with him a total of 30 years of working experience in the Banking industry in multiple functions such as credit management and relationship management. Prior to this appointment, Encik Nizam has served SME Bank for a total of 10 years in multiple supervisory roles within the Credit division.

Rosehamidi Kamaruddin has more than 27 years in the financial industry specialising in credit, operations and audit.

He began his career with Bank Pertanian Malaysia Berhad (now, Agrobank Malaysia Berhad) in 1995 in various departments. One of the achievements he recorded was uncovering fraudulent gold investment schemes involving tens of millions of dollars during his tenure as Manager, Forensic and Investigation Audit. His last position in the bank is Head of Network Support.

Following his tenure at Agrobank Malaysia Berhad, Rosehamidi joined Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) where he was assigned a prominent role in spearheading various departments and is the subject matter expert for the RACI module for Certified Integrity Officer (CeIO). Among his achievements includes completing an assessment of the Integrity Framework in numerous Corporate Entities and contributing towards the enhancement of the Corporate Integrity Pledge and founding the MACC Integrity Award.

Prior to joining SME Bank, Rosehamidi was with EXIM Bank Integrity Unit in 2017 where he focused on expanding the Bank's integrity function, improving and constructing numerous integrity-related rules and processes.

He holds a Degree in Business Administration from Malaysia's Open University and certified as Anti-Money Laundering / Counter Financing of Terrorism & Regulatory Compliance Officer by UMS, Investment Centre for Professional Development. In recent years, he has also been invited to speak at a number of conferences on themes linked to integrity, such as the implementation of whistleblowing in an organisation and the promotion of integrity in the workplace.

Rosehamidi joined SME Bank in November 2019, as the Head of Audit Department and he was appointed as the Group Chief Compliance Officer on 1st April 2023.

Zabidi Abdullah carries with him more than 25 years of experience in the Banking industry particularly Development Financial Institutions (DFI) including 23 years of experience in business, 1 year in advisory and 1 year in credit evaluation.

He started as Project Officer with Bank Pembangunan before the rationalisation of Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad and Bank Industri & Teknologi Malaysia Berhad.

He holds a Degree in Business Administration Majoring in Finance from Universiti Utara Malaysia.

Zabidi has been appointed as the Chief Business Officer on 1st April 2023. Prior to that, he assumed duties as Business Head, Enterprise Network covering the operation of the whole Branches and Region of SME Bank.