Maybank Singapore names Dr John Lee Hin Hock as CEO

And Gilbert Kohnke was appointed as group chief risk officer.

Maybank recently announced two new senior appointments in its Group Risk and Maybank Singapore operations. Dr John Lee Hin Hock who is currently Group Chief Risk Officer, will assume the post of Chief Executive Officer, Maybank Singapore effective 1 December 2017 while Gilbert Kohnke will be appointed Group Chief Risk Officer effective 1 November 2017.

Dr John will take over from Datuk Lim Hong Tat, the current CEO of Maybank Singapore and Group Head of Maybank’s Community Financial Services (CFS).

Datuk Lim will return to Malaysia to fully focus on the role of Group Head, CFS to drive and implement the Group’s community banking strategy across all geographies including branch banking, consumer lending, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) and Business Banking, sales and distribution, wealth management, payments, virtual banking, product innovation and customer segmentation.

Dr John’s appointment includes single–captainship responsibility for the entire spectrum of operations in Maybank Singapore, which is one of the Group’s three home markets. He will also be responsible for leading Maybank Singapore to further strengthen its position as a major financial services provider in Singapore.

Dr John, who joined Maybank in 2011, holds Bachelor and PhD degrees in Economics from Monash University Australia. He is also a Fellow Certified Practising Accountant of the Australian Society of CPAs, a Chartered Banker of the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers and a member of the American Finance Association, Econometrics Society and Society of Financial Studies.

Prior to joining Maybank, he held positions in financial services consulting and advisory, where he was a partner with KPMG Business Advisory for 13 years, assisting numerous financial institutions across the Asia Pacific markets. He was also with Amanah Merchant Bank and the Kuala Lumpur Options and Financial Futures Exchange (KLOFFE).

Dr. John was awarded the Bank Risk Manager of the Year 2013 by Asia Risk and the Risk Manager of the Year 2014 by Asian Banker for his contribution to the Group and the industry.

Gilbert Kohnke, who will take over from Dr John Lee, will be responsible for leading the Group Risk transformation as well as balancing the need for resilient customer-centric risk practices amidst the increasingly stringent banking environment. He will also be focusing on Group Risk being a relevant and value-adding strategic partner within the business areas.

Gilbert has more than 29 years of experience in global financial institutions, with a proven track record of strong risk expertise and talent management/people development. He was recognised as Risk Manager of the Year by Asia Risk in 2012 and was the inaugural Asian Banker Risk Manager of the Year award recipient in 2013.

Prior to joining Maybank, Gilbert was Group Chief Risk Officer, Danske Bank AS, based in Copenhagen, Denmark for 2 ½ years. At Danske Bank, Gilbert led a global best-practice transformation in automated credit decisioning models and implementation of analytical approaches in portfolio risk management and operational risk.

Prior to Danske Bank, he served as Group Chief Risk Officer, OCBC Bank, based in Singapore for nine years, where he led similar risk transformations. Gilbert has broad experience in front-line business, as well as 18 years in various Risk function roles across various geographies, which include CIBC World Markets in New York, London and Singapore, as well as Royal Bank of Canada in its Toronto headquarters and Vancouver.

Gilbert holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Hawaii, a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from the University of Windsor, Canada, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

Group President & CEO Datuk Abdul Farid Alias said that following the success of the first Group EXCO role rotation initiated in mid 2016, the Group has embarked on its second rotation which is in line with its strategic objective of ensuring and establishing a strong succession pipeline for every Mission Critical Position (MCP).

“This is an ongoing process designed to strengthen the Group’s leadership team by bringing new ideas and further heightening the level of energy,” he said. “I welcome Gilbert into the Maybank Group, and believe that together with Dr John and Datuk Lim, their deep knowledge of the business and vast experience in banking will be invaluable to the Group.”