By Chester Tay

Sime Darby Bhd. has named Samsudin Osman as its new chairman after Abdul Rahman Ahmad resigned due to his appointment as group chief executive of CIMB Group Holdings.

The appointment of Mr. Samsudin, who has been a non-independent non-executive director at the company since Dec. 19, 2008, is effective Wednesday, Sime Darby said in a stock exchange filing late Tuesday.

The 73-year-old, who is currently chairman of the Employees Provident Fund Board, has held senior positions in the Malaysian government, including secretary general for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, and chief secretary to the government.

Mr. Samsudin is also a former president of Perbadanan Putrajaya, which was established for the purpose of managing and administering the Federal Territory of Putrajaya.

Last month, CIMB appointed Mr. Abdul Rahman to helm the country's second-largest banking group by assets, succeeding Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who left the position to join the government as finance minister. 



  Write to Chester Tay at chester.tay@wsj.com