Shopping centre owner Ayala Corporation announced company CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala is stepping down from his post as chief executive to concentrate on his role as chairman of the board.

The outgoing CEO’s younger brother Fernando Zobel de Ayala, current chief operating officer, will take on the role as chief executive by April 23, 2021 while continuing his position as president.

Alberto M. de Larrazabal will take on the role as the company’s chief finance officer, chief risk officer and chief sustainability officer effective April 23, roles which are currently held by Jose Teodoro Limcaoco. Limcaoco will succeed Cezar P. Consing as president and CEO of BPI after the BPI stockholders’ meeting on April 22, 2021.

“At Ayala, it is our leaders’ responsibility to nurture talent and plan paths of succession. In this regard, I see myself as no different from our leaders past and present,” Jaime said. “Fernando and I are very fortunate to work with a deep leadership bench; and we are confident that planned leadership transitions such as this are critical ingredients for sustainable success.”

He added that with the move of decoupling the chairman and CEO roles, they now have the opportunity to reflect an evolving global best practice in environment, social and corporate governance.

Fernando, who has held leadership roles across various companies of the Ayala group for more than two decades, said it is an honour to continue leading the company with an outstanding and trusted team on their side.

“Together, we have worked hard to build on the many successes of those who came before us; and are committed to continuing to improve lives and create value for our next generations of colleagues, their families, our broad ecosystem of stakeholders and our Country.”

The Ayala group, which started out as a distillery in 1834, spans banking, telecommunications, retail, real estate and energy, among other areas.