KUALA LUMPUR: Former chief justice Tun Arifin Zakaria has been appointed as group chairman of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) effective from May 6.
Arifin has also been named trustee of PNB's parent Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra (YBP) effective the same date.
His appointment was announced following Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz's retirement as group chairman of PNB on April 30.
PNB previously said Zeti had officially written to Prime Minister and YPB chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to inform him that she did not wish to renew her tenure upon the completion of her three-year term on April 30.
Arifin was Chief Justice of Malaysia between 2011 and 2017 and Chief Judge of the High Court of Malaya from 2008 to 2011.
Prior to that, YPB said Arifin had served in numerous capacities in the judicial office as well as the legal department of the government of Malaysia.
This included as magistrate, president of the sessions court, federal counsel and senior federal counsel, legal advisor to the Ministry of Primary Industries and the Public Services Department respectively, as well as deputy parliamentary draftsman and senior federal counsel of the Inland Revenue Department.
In 1992, Arifin was appointed as judicial commissioner of the High Court of Malaya, and two years later as High Court Judge of Malaya, after which he was elevated to the Court of Appeal of Malaysia in 2002 and the Federal Court of Malaysia in 2005.
Arifin read law at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (UK) and received his Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from University College London, UK the same year he was called to the English Bar.
YPB also announced the appointment of Datin Norazah Razali to the PNB board of directors effective immediately.
"The board, management and staff of PNB wish a warm welcome to Arifin and Norazah to the PNB board and look forward to their stewardship of the institution and the assets that we manage on behalf of over 14 million Malaysians," said PNB president and group chief executive Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn in a statement.
Norazah is currently senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), supporting and advising businesses and organisations across Southeast Asia.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) degree from the International Islamic University of Malaysia and a Master of Business Administration from the Management School of Imperial College London.