SME Bank Announces Departure of Group President / Chief Executive Officer

SME Bank today announced that its Group President/Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Wira (Dr.) Aria Putera Ismail, will be departing the organisation at the end of his tenurer to pursue new opportunities. Datuk Dr. Mohammad Hardee Ibrahim, its Group Chief Corporate Strategy Officer, will succeed as Acting Group President/Chief Executive Officer with effect from 3 September 2024.

Under his leadership for the past six (6) years, Datuk Wira (Dr.) Aria Putera has paved inroads for SME Bank to fulfill its mandate in supporting and developing SMEs in Malaysia. This began with redefining its vision, mission and introducing its S.M.I.L.E core values. In 2019, he introduced the successful completion of the Two-Year Accelerated Programme, a strategic plan to revamp the Bank’s business with 27 initiatives focusing on sustainable developmental goals, asset quality, comprehensive SME ecosystem, digitisation & digitalisation and talent development, recording a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of RM213.9 million in 2019.

Consequently, SME Bank has shown tremendous improvement in asset quality and financing growth during his tenure. The Bank’s Gross financing amount recorded a 37.6% growth from RM6.47 billion in 2018 to RM8.9 billion as at end 2023, whilst the Gross Impaired Rate reduced to 12.5% from 22.9%. At the height of the global COVID pandemic, Datuk Wira (Dr.) Aria Putera initiated multiple relief programmes from October 2020 to September 2022 to support SMEs and microenterprises in various industries, which benefitted more than 5000 companies with a total financing of RM9.12 billion.

Datuk Wira (Dr.) Aria Putera introduced novel initiatives such as the "National SME Digital Platform," which included ScoreXcess and Odela, earning the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) Award in 2020 for Outstanding Development Project in Technology Development. He was also the CEO Champion for the Public Sector Category 2023 by Talent Corporation Malaysia and the Bank has garnered 17 international awards under his stewardship from recognised awarding bodies including ADFIAP, The Asset Triple A, Alpha Southeast Asia, and the Lang International Corporate Titan Awards.

Datuk Dr. Mohammad Hardee brings over 20 years of extensive experience in the financial services industry, specialising in business banking and strategic management. He has served SME Bank in numerous portfolios including treasury, corporate finance, business banking and most recently corporate strategy.

Their contributions have been pivotal in shaping SME Bank's aspirations to drive the country'seconomic growth through the provision of not only financial assistance but also training and development programs for SMEs to promote overall business growth in line with the MADANI Economy Framework. SME Bank extends its gratitude to Datuk Wira (Dr.) Aria Putera Ismail for his exceptional leadership and welcomes Datuk Dr. Mohammad Hardee Ibrahim as the Acting Group President/Chief Executive Officer to continue leading the team to new heights and successfully fulfilling SME Bank's mandates. For more information on SME Bank, visit www.smebank.com.my.