CIMB Singapore CEO’s sudden exit puts spotlight on key profit hub
Victor Lee resigns, placed on gardening leave with immediate effect
[SINGAPORE] Victor Lee has resigned from his roles as chief executive officer of CIMB Singapore and chief executive of growth markets, parent company CIMB Group announced on Tuesday (Sep 9). His departure comes at a time when Singapore has emerged as one of the bank’s most important profit engines despite operating with just a single branch.
Lee is leaving to pursue other opportunities and has been placed on gardening leave with immediate effect, the Malaysian bank said in a statement.
Malaysia’s second-largest lender with total assets of RM770 billion (S$234 billion), described the move as part of a “leadership transition”.
Lee’s dual responsibilities have been split between two senior executives.
Andrew Boey, CIMB Singapore’s chief finance officer, will serve as the officer-in-charge of the Singapore branch, handling day-to-day leadership.
Meanwhile, CIMB Group chief executive officer Novan Amirudin will oversee the growth markets division as its acting CEO. In an interview back in April, he told The Business Times that the banking group was moving its growth engine beyond its home turf and ramping up in Indonesia and Singapore across Islamic finance, corporate banking and wealth management.
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Together, these two markets contributed just over a third of the bank’s pre-tax profits in the first half of the year ended June.
Lee began his career at CIMB Group in January 2019 and was appointed to lead CIMB Singapore in January 2020.
In a statement, Amirudin thanked Lee for his contributions, saying he was “instrumental in transforming and institutionalising CIMB Singapore for continued sustainable success”.
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He noted: “As we look to the future, we are confident in the strength and depth of our bench strength, comprised of experienced and highly capable leaders, well-prepared to carry forward our strategic priorities...”
He added: “The group extends its sincere appreciation to Victor for his contributions and wishes him continued success in his future endeavours.”
CIMB Group said that it has “activated its succession plan” and will announce its successors in due course.
South-east Asia’s fifth-largest lender’s latest results for the first half of FY2025 showed total income rising 2.7 per cent year on year to RM11.5 billion, while net profit declined 0.9 per cent to RM3.86 billion. On a constant currency basis, however, H1 FY2025 net profit would have increased by 3.3 per cent, noted a press statement from the bank.
Singapore’s operating income was largely stable in the second quarter, down 0.5 per cent year on year, but a 1.1 per cent increase on a quarterly basis – a more resilient showing compared with steep declines in Indonesia (minus 11.1 per cent) and Thailand (minus 7.8 per cent), the group’s latest analysts presentation indicated.
The bank’s Singapore operations accounted for about 11 per cent of group loans, or roughly RM450 billion in total, making the recent leadership changes in its Singapore unit closely watched.
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