Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or the “Exchange”) today announced the appointment of Dato’ Fad’l Mohamed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bursa Malaysia, effective 1 March 2025.
The decision was made by its Board of Directors, in line with the Exchange’s leadership succession plan and with the upcoming retirement of Datuk Muhamad Umar who has been the CEO of Bursa Malaysia since February 2019. The Securities Commission Malaysia has also given its concurrence for the appointment of the new CEO in accordance with Section 10 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007.
Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Chairman, Bursa Malaysia said, “On behalf of the Board, we are pleased to welcome Dato’ Fad’l Mohamed as the next CEO to take Bursa Malaysia forward, building on the strong progress laid by Datuk Muhamad Umar. Dato’ Fad’l’s understanding of capital markets and investment banking sets him in solid stead to lead the Exchange into the future. We are confident that his expertise will drive continued growth and success for the Exchange and the marketplace.”
Dato’ Fad’l, 57, brings with him over 30 years’ experience in areas of legal, capital markets, and investment banking. He is currently the Managing Director, Group Wholesale Banking of RHB Bank Berhad, and was previously CEO of Maybank Investment Bank. Dato’ Fad’l began his career as a lawyer at Messrs Rashid & Lee in 1991 before joining the Securities Commission Malaysia in 1993. Thereafter, he moved to Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, an investment banking firm. In 2004, he founded Maestro Capital Sdn. Bhd., a licensed corporate finance adviser advising on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and IPOs, until 2015 when he joined Maybank Investment Bank.
Dato’ Fad’l holds a Masters in Business Administration from Imperial College London, UK and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree from the University of London, UK. In addition, he holds a Certified Diploma in Accounting & Finance from The Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and is a Fellow Chartered Banker with the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers. Dato’ Fad’l is also a Certified Expert in Sustainable Finance awarded by the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
Tan Sri Abdul Wahid acknowledged Datuk Muhamad Umar’s pivotal role to the capital market, adding, “On behalf of the Board, we extend our utmost gratitude to Datuk Muhamad Umar for his outstanding contributions and leadership marked by innovation, integrity, as well as a deep commitment and collaborative approach to serving the diverse needs of our stakeholders, and the nation. Datuk Umar will be remembered for many significant contributions and achievements during his tenure, including among others, setting the vision and roadmap for Bursa Malaysia to be a multi-asset exchange, keeping the markets open with fully operational trading throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and steering the Exchange into a new era of sustainability, customer-centricity, and digitalisation.”
Under Datuk Muhamad Umar, Bursa Malaysia achieved several market records, including surpassing RM2 trillion in equities market capitalisation. Under his leadership, Bursa Malaysia ventured into new asset classes, with the launch and operationalisation of the Bursa Carbon Exchange, Bursa Gold Dinar, and BR Capital. During his service, the Exchange had also developed the Centralised Sustainability Intelligence (CSI) Solution, welcomed the world’s first Waqf-featured ETF, and its first currency futures product. These are just some of the expanded suite of products and services rolled out to enhance the competitiveness of listed issuers, and to provide wider investment and hedging opportunities. 2024 was a particularly strong year for the Exchange, where Bursa Malaysia ranked as ASEAN’s leading IPO market, and the derivatives market hit a new high in annual trading volume for all products.
