Malaysia's RHB picks new CEO candidate, seeks central bank approval

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Reuters) - Malaysian lender RHB Capital Bhd said it will seek approval from the country's central bank to appoint an unnamed candidate it has selected to succeed Kellee Kam as its next chief executive officer.

"A successor has been identified," RHB said in a statement issued late on Thursday. "The board will now proceed to seek approval from Bank Negara to appoint the said successor."

Kam's departure from the country's fourth-largest bank by assets came after RHB called off a proposed plan to merge with second-ranked CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and smaller lender Malaysia Building Society Bhd, citing a failure to agree terms in a worsening economic environment. The merger would have created Malaysia's largest bank by assets.

RHB appointed Khairussaleh Ramli, the current managing director of RHB Bank Bhd and deputy group managing director, to be the acting group CEO.

Full statement: http://bit.ly/1zRK0P8

(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)