Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift

Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, a Malaysian permanent resident aged 58, graduated with a Bachelor of Economics degree from Monash University, Australia, and is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, a Fellow of CPA Australia, a Chartered Tax Adviser of the Tax Institute of Australia, and a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA) in Australia. He is also a Chartered Accountant with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and a Registered Financial Planner.

Datuk Umar has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of banking and financial services. He commenced his career with Price Waterhouse Chartered Accountants in 1986 and moved to the Corporate Finance division of Bank of Singapore (Australia) Limited in 1992, where he advanced his banking career in various positions before joining Gas Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. as General Manager, Corporate Finance in 1996. A year later, he was promoted to Chief Executive Officer of Gas Malaysia.

Datuk Umar became a Practice Leader for the Utilities Business of Deloitte Consulting in Malaysia in 2002, before re-entering the financial services industry as Executive Vice President – Head, Enterprise Financial Services Group of Maybank in 2004. In 2006, he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer / Group Managing Director of MAA Group Berhad, where he also assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer of Malaysian Assurance Alliance Berhad (now known as Zurich Insurance Malaysia Berhad).

Currently the Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Datuk Umar leads the Exchange to fulfil its vision of becoming ASEAN’s leading, sustainable and globally connected marketplace. He is also the director of all subsidiary companies within Bursa Malaysia Group, and serves as the Chairman of Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad and Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Clearing Berhad.

Datuk Umar sits on the Board of the Securities Industry Development Corporation and is an appointed member of ‘Anugerah Kecemerlangan Industri’, Malaysia’s premier corporate recognition award introduced by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry to acknowledge outstanding Malaysian companies. He is also an Ex-Officio member of the Financial Reporting Foundation and a Board member of the Capital Market Development Fund, both appointed by the Ministry of Finance. Most recently, Datuk Umar has been appointed by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Malaysia Forest Fund (MFF).

In addition, Datuk Umar is also an advisor for the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia and Brunei and sits on the Steering Committee of the CEO Action Network. He has also been appointed as the Adjunct Professor at the School of Economics, Finance and Banking of Universiti Utara Malaysia.