KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) group president and chief executive officer for its group of companies Datuk Seri Ahmad Zaini Othman died today at 1.46am at KPJ Selangor Specialist Hospital.
The 64-year-old executive lost his battle with Covid-19 and is survived by his wife, two married daughters and two grandchildren.
In a Facebook post, MBSB Bank stated: “We are deeply saddened on the passing of YBhg. Datuk Seri Ahmad Zaini Othman, MBSB Bank's president and chief executive officer on 15 August 2021, 6 Muharram 1443.
“Let us recite the Al-Fatihah and pray that his soul will receive blessings from Allah SWT, and that he is placed among the pious.”
For the time being, the group’s deputy chief executive officer, Datuk Nor Azam M Taib, will be the interim acting president and chief executive officer.
Zaini was appointed to lead MBSB (financial holding company of MBSB Bank Bhd) on February 26, 2009. He brought four decades of banking experience with him.
“This is a tremendous loss not only to MBSB Group, but also the banking industry. Datuk Seri Ahmad Zaini was an outstanding man with a big heart. He has touched the lives of so many and his hard work will never be forgotten.
“He was instrumental to the improvement of the bank through his business initiatives which comes from his excellent business acumen. He was a visionary, and we will miss him dearly,” MBSB chairman Tan Sri Azlan Zainol said.
Among his contribution to MBSB, was transforming the non-bank financial institution by restructuring and turning around its financial standing into a profitable organisation.
He had also successfully concluded the merger deal between MBSB and the Asian Finance Bank which also granted an acquisition approval – allowing MBSB to fully own MBSB Bank Bhd in 2018.
Zaini had also converted a conventional non-bank financial institution into a full-fledged Islamic bank, where today MBSB Bank stands as Malaysia’s second full-fledged Islamic bank.
He began his career as a banker in 1984, when he became the Head of Corporate Banking, Syndications and Project Finance, Bumiputra Merchant Bankers before leaving in 1988.
The late Zaini had also worn many hats in his lifetime, seeing how he had also shared his knowledge as an adjunct professor at the School of Economics, Finance and Banking, UUM College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia from 2016 to 2018.
From 2019 to 2020 he was also in the AIxChange: CEO Faculty Programme for the same university.
The financial expert had received his Higher National Diploma in Accounting in Manchester, England.
Following that, he did a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from the University of Southern Illinois in the United States and then completed his Master’s in Business Administration (Finance) in the University of St Louis.
He also became a member of the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIF) and by 2019 had become a fellow chartered member of the same body.
Among his achievements were receiving the Asia Pacific Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award 2014 from the Enterprise Asia; being named as the IRBA CEO of the Year 2020, Islamic Retail Banking Awards from Cambridge IFA and; Most People-Focused CEO, Human Resources Excellence Awards 2020 from Human Resources Online. – The Vibes, August 15, 2021
