Maybank Group CRO named "Bank Risk Manager of the year"

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Bernama
Thursday, 14 November 2013 13:31
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 14): Maybank's Group Chief Risk Officer (CRO) Dr John
Lee, has been named the "Bank Risk Manager of The Year" by Asia Risk,
magazine.
The Asia-based publication covers derivatives and risk management.
"I am honoured to receive this recognition from Asia Risk. This award
recognises that Maybank adopts global best practices in its risk management
policies, among other endeavours," Lee said in a statement today.
The award was presented by the Editor of Asia Risk, Eric Woolner to Lee
during its 14th Annual Asia Risk Awards presentation ceremony in Hong Kong
recently.
Lee said the biggest challenge for Maybank was the timing of various
regulations across Asian countries.
"Regulatory developments are changing how we look at risk and more
importantly, how it is embedded into the business function, as the cost of capital
goes up and liquidity constrained. This will impact our business and
customers," he added.
Lee has in-depth financial industry and risk management expertise with a
specialisation in Islamic finance, business strategy, risk management and
performance management.
According to Asia Risk, one of the first measures implemented following Lee’s
appointment in July 2011 was a "risk transformation programme" aimed at
strengthening risk management at the growing regional bank.
As part of this programme, he integrated the offices of the Basel II project team,
risk management, group credit management and group compliance into Group
Credit & Risk Management, with the responsibility of overseeing the overall risk management function across the group that encompasses
20 countries.
Now in its second phase, the key objective of the current programme is to redesign Maybank's risk architecture and align the capabilities
of the group's risk function with its aspirations within the Asean region.
Asia Risk said that enhanced risk management was among the key factors, that led to Maybank becoming the first Malaysian bank to enter
into the world's top 20 strongest banks at number 13, based on an evaluation undertaken by Bloomberg Markets in May 2013.
The Group has also started to put into place the Basel III reforms commencing January 2013, in line with Bank Negara Malaysia's timeline,
and ahead of the majority of members of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.