Sime Darby appoints interim chairman

Malaysian trading conglomerate Sime Darby has appointed Tan Sri Samsudin Osman as its interim acting chairman of the board effective June 10. He replaces former chairman Dato' Abdul Rahman Ahmad, who was appointed Group CEO of banking group CIMB earlier in the month.

Samsudin was appointed to the Sime Darby board in 2008 and served as a non-executive, non-independent director. A career civil servant, he was the chairman of the Employees Provident Fund Board and its investment panel from 2007 to 2020, and concurrently held the same position at Universiti Utara Malaysia and the National Unity Consultative Council during that period. He also served as the President of Putrajaya from 2004 to 2012 and Chief Secretary to the Malaysian government from 2001 to 2006.

This is not the first time Samsudin has stepped forward to temporarily hold the Sime Darby chairman's position. In November 2012, he was appointed acting chairman after then-chairman Tun Musa Hitam retired, and served in the role until Dato' Abdul Ghani Othman took over in July 2013.