In an Instagram post, Nazir – the brother of former prime minister Najib Razak – said the board would now activate its succession plan to decide on the next chairman and the exact date of the handover.

“The sun is setting on my time in CIMB. Over the last 29 years, I have had the privilege of a front-row seat on the amazing CIMB journey from fledging corporate finance franchise to leading Malaysian investment bank to an Asean universal bank.

“Thank you CIMB,” he wrote on the photo-sharing platform along with a picture of him at sunset.

Nazir also said following the CEO transition in 2014 and the success of its Target 18 (T18) initiative, CIMB is now “financially strong, organisationally robust and firmly institutionalised”.

His CIMB mission, he added, is accomplished.

“Final affirmation of success will come with my departure and the group will grow from strength to strength.

“I am 52 years young. It is time for me to commit fully to my next mission on the Asean stage.”

While he did not elaborate on his Asean mission, Bloomberg had in 2017 reported that he was helping to start a regional private equity fund that would seek as much as US$1 billion.

The fund, which isn’t connected to CIMB, will be based in Singapore, according to Bloomberg, and plans to target investments in the consumer, technology, logistics and financial services industries in Southeast Asia.