Excellent 2014 ABA Maybank Short Term Visiting Program in Kuala Lumpur

Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) successfully conducted a two-day ABA Short Term Visiting Program held at the Maybank headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on September 8-9, 2014. The program was attended by participants from ABA member countries Thailand, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Maybank department heads joined the program and led discussion on their various areas of expertise.

First Day

For the first day of the program, Ms. Jans Lim Mei Lin, Head, Group Risk Compliance, spoke about the role of compliance in banking. She said that one of the challenges in compliance is to better understand the organization’s business and operations to be effective. It also requires knowledge on of the regulatory requirements to avoid compliance oversight.

Mr. Khor Lai Seng, Head, Group Risk Operations Management, discussed the bank’s risk culture. Generally, Mr. Seng noted that every person in the bank is a risk manager and will evaluate, control and optimize risk to build a sustainable, competitive advantage for the organization.

The afternoon session of Day 1 started with a tour of Maybank’s main branch banking hall. Ms. Mazlina Muhammad, Vice President and Head of the Kuala Lumpur Main Branch gave the participants a tour of the bank’s facilities. Ms. Muhammad brought the participants to the newly-opened Maybank Premier Wealth Center at its 27th floor, catering to premier wealth clients.

Ms. Eunice Chan Chun Hei, Head High Net Worth and Affluent Banking, gave a talk on “The Wave of Wealth Management in Asia”. Ms. Chan shared that Asia’s wealth growth is driven by both High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) as well as the growing middle class population. According to Ms. Chan, as early as 2014, Asia Pacific has also fast become the largest HNWI wealth market. In her talk, she underscored the need to constantly develop capabilities to understand client needs.

Ms. Tan Yen Lim, the final speaker for Day 1, is the head for group transformation and productivity, group PCEO office. She discussed some key concepts to overall approach to cost management such as cost avoidance, cost savings, and cost structure. Ms. Datin Mornifairos Othman, Executive Vice President, Head Group Organizational Learning, Group Human Capital, gave a brief presentation on Maybank’s journey, its history, mission and aspirations.

Second Day

For the second day of the program, Mr. Farid Khairi, Deputy Head, Global Markets, accompanied the delegates to the Maybank Trading Room. Mr. Khairi noted that Maybank is a Basel 2 compliant bank, and will be Basel 3 compliant by year 2016. Mr. Mohamed Adam Wee Abdullah, Chief Marketing Officer, shared Maybank’s journey of digital marketing transformation. He said that Maybank ranks first in the world, in terms of customer service among financial institutions in social media in the fourth quarter of 2013. He added that in Malaysia, Maybank2u website tops the corporate and retail websites.

Mr. Loo Eng Hock, Head, Transaction Banking Malaysia, gave a presentation on Maybank’s Transaction Banking. He noted that as a regional bank, 40% of Maybank’s income comes from overseas. Mr. Tengku Ariff Azhar, Director Investment Banking and Advisory spoke on Investment Banking: An Overview of Malaysian Debt Capital Markets.

The two-day visiting program is a project of ABA which aims to provide member banks the opportunity to study and undergo training on specific aspects of the operations of the more advanced host banks, such as Maybank. It aims to enable visitors to enhance their technical skills and knowledge in specific areas such as international banking, treasury activities, investment, and foreign exchange in the distinct social, economic, and business environment of the host country.

The participants in this short term visiting program include: Mr. Robert Loke Tan Cheng, Chief Executive Officer, Bangkok Bank Berhad; Mr. Munkh-Erdene Budee, Risk Manager, Golomt Bank Mongolia; Mr. Zolboo Bayarsaikhan, Director of Reserve Management and FX Department, Golomt Bank; Ms. B. Tuvshinzaya, Director FI Department, Golomt Bank; Ms. Lie-Yu Hsieh, Assistant Vice President, Mega International Commercial Bank; Mr. Ming-Chien Lin, Assistant Vice President, Risk Management Department; Ms. Sasinapa Krainara, Senior Financial Institution Relationship Manager, Kasikornbank Public Company Limited; Mr. Trung Pham Thanh, Credit Risk Management Officer, Vietcombank, and Ms. Min Chau Nguyen, Credit Policy Department, Vietcombank.