The Malaysian Reserve quoted the group CEO, Zafrul Aziz as saying that CIMB had deliberated on the central bank’s ruling and decided that Nazir was not bound by the new order, as it should only apply for new appointments.

“He (Nazir) was made chairman before the ruling came out. It is not backdated. We must look at things as it is today.

“When the ruling came out, he was the chairman and we moved on from there. Any ruling cannot be made retroactively,” Zafrul told the business daily.

His comment was in reply to a report in Singapore’s Straits Times (ST) earlier that the BNM ruling issued early this month may impact Nazir’s stint in CIMB.

The report pointed out that Nazir could be affected when his position as director on the board (of CIMB) comes up next year for renewal by the bank’s nomination committee.

Zafrul dismissed this speculation as well, said the report.

The BNM rules stipulates that chief executive officers of financial institutions are prohibited from taking over as chairmen of the board of directors. It also says that financial institutions must have a majority of independent directors on their respective boards.

According to reports, the rules were aimed to separate ownership and management of banks as part of their broader responsibilities to depositors, investment account holders, policy holders and participants, as well as to erase any possible conflicts of interest that may arise in daily business operations.

Nazir, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Najib Razak, served as CIMB’s CEO between 1999 and 2014, before becoming chairman of the group.