AmBank, the Malaysian financial services group, has made a raft of senior appointments to strengthen its team.

Ashok Ramamurthy assumed the role of group managing director in 1 April 2012, in addition to his position as board member of the key subsidiaries of AmBank Group, covering AmBank Berhad, AmInvestment Bank Berhad, AmIslamic Bank Berhad and AmInvestment Management. He is also a part of the board of directors of AMMB Holdings, the parent firm, and chief executive of AmBank Berhad. 

The previous managing director, Cheah Tek Kuang has been named advisor to the chairman's office at AmBank Group and is set to become deputy chairman of AmBank Berhad and AmInvestment Bank Berhad. He is also a non-executive director of AmIslamic Bank Berhad. In his new capacity, he will be helping Ramamurthy transition into the group MD role for three months and will not officially assume his advisory role until 1 July 2012.

The changes in senior management will not affect the role of Datuk Mohamed Azmi Mahmood as managing director for retail banking at AmBank Berhad, the company said in a statement. Instead, he adds to his responsibilities as deputy group managing director of AmBank Group. He reports directly to Ramamurthy.

AmBank Group has RM111.9 billion ($35.8 billion) in total assets and around 10,000 staff as of 31 March 2012.