PETALING JAYA: Datuk Syed Zaid Albar has been appointed as the Securities Commission (SC) executive chairman, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced.

In a statement on Sunday (Sept 30), the PMO said Syed Zaid's appointment will take effect on Oct 15.

Syed Zaid replaces Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh, whose tenure was only expected to end in 2019.

The PMO said Syed Zaid graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Law in the UK and qualified as a Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn in 1979.

After graduating, he was called to the High Court of Malaya in 1980.

According to the statement, Syed Zaid has more than 38 years in the legal practice, where he served in Skrine & Co and even founded his own law firm Albar & Partners.

The PMO also said Syed Zaid was previously part of the compensation panel inquiry member and also the committee member of appeals at Bursa Malaysia Berhad.

He also was the review committee member of Islamic financial law in Bank Negara Malaysia.

"His expertise goes across various sectors such as corporate law, capital markets, sukuk, Islamic and conventional banking," it said.