Maybank

Dr. John Lee, Group Chief Risk Officer of Maybank has been named Risk Manager of the Year by The Asian Banker. The award recognises emerging best practices and the best run risk management teams in financial institutions in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions. The award was presented at the Asian Banker Business Achievement Award Dinner during the 15th Asian Banker Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

The initial selection process which took about four months was done through a survey and desk research done by the research team at The Asian Banker. The identified candidates were then subjected to further scrutiny through interviews with third parties, including local banking journalists and analysts who have had contact with the candidates, peers and third party reviews.

Ensuing that, the names of the shortlisted candidates were submitted for a review by Asian Banker’s board of advisors, based on a comparative evaluation done by the research team. Finally, a stringent three-month evaluation process based on a balanced and transparent scorecard had been used to determine the winners.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Dr. Lee said, “I’m indeed humbled and honoured to receive this Award. This Award is testament to the transformation at the Group, and at Group Risk specifically, to ensure that we are aligned and worked closer with the business to realise our aspiration of being a Regional Financial Services Leader.”

According to The Asian Banker, the award is a personal award and takes into consideration the candidate’s entire career and accumulated achievements that have contributed to the prestige of the risk management profession overall. The winner is an individual who stands above his peers in the industry and contributed to the growth of not only his institution but has also advanced the cause of risk management in the wider industry.

With more than 13 years of risk management experience, Dr. Lee also has extensive experience in Islamic finance, business strategy, risk management and performance management. He has undertaken key projects in risk transformation and credit quality improvements to transform and bridge the roles of risk management, capital and balance sheet management as well as to meet the strategic business objectives of the bank. He serves in the Liquidity Risk Management Working Group and the Risk Management Working Group of the Islamic Financial Services Board and has most recently established a Chief Risk Officers Forum in the country.

The Asian Banker Achievement Awards are widely acknowledged by the financial services industry as the highest possible accolade available to professionals and banks in the industry as recognised in the Asia Pacific region.

This is Dr. Lee’s second major award for excellence in risk management. Last year he was named “Bank Risk Manager of the Year” by Asia Risk, an Asia-based publication that covers derivatives and risk management.