- Ali Yong, the youngest board director at any of the ten largest banks in Indonesia, has made impressive headway in transaction banking services - Rigorous selection process chaired by Mr David Eldon, Chairman, Board of Directors, Dubai International Financial Centre Authority and former Chairman of HSBC Asia Pacific Hanoi, 19/3 (ANTARA) - The winners of the Asian Banker Achievement Awards 2008 were announced yesterday in a sparkling ceremony at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam. Besides recognising senior bankers' contributions to setting the tone for the financial services industry in 2007, The Asian Banker has created a new awards series that identifies the most promising young talent in the financial services industry with awards for the best bankers under the age of 40. It is the only awards programme that recognises promising young bankers at the most crucial stage of their career development. The award plays an important role in nurturing a culture of excellence among tomorrow's leaders in the financial services industry in Asia and the Gulf and has become undisputedly the highest possible accolade available to professionals in the financial services industry in the region today. "We feel that it is important to celebrate the incredible efforts that certain outstanding individuals are making to the industry in their thirties," says Emmanuel Daniel, president of The Asian Banker. "They set new benchmarks for talent and are raising the bar for the whole industry." An exclusive audience of top industry leaders from around the world witnessed the award ceremony for 37 of the top professionals in the banking industry in the Asia Pacific region. Among the honoured guests were Mr Joseph Yam, chief executive, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Ms Kannikar Chalitaporn, president, Siam Commercial Bank, Mr David Eldon, chairman, Dubai International Financial Centre Authority and former chairman, HSBC Asia, Sir George Mathewson, chairman Toscafund Holdings and former chairman, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Mr Paul Sarbanes, former chairman, U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Mr Kaspar Villiger, board member, Swiss Re and former president and finance minister, Switzerland. There were five regional and international awards given to top bankers and regulators and 17 awards for young bankers. The highlight of the evening came when xxxxxx* was chosen for the overall award for Promising Young Banker Award for the Asia Pacific Region. Nine other awards focused on achievements in specific business lines in the financial services industry. Two awards focused on supporting industries "executive search and legal advice" and the night also honoured three senior bankers with lifetime achievement awards. (*Name cannot be revealed until awards ceremony, after which a post-event press release will follow.) The award ceremony was held in conjunction with The Asian Banker Summit, undisputedly the largest gathering of financial services industry professionals in the Asia Pacific region. The Summit is held annually in different Asian cities, and this year?s was held in Hanoi with the full support of the Vietnam Banks Association and the State Bank of Vietnam. This year, The Asian Banker Summit is holding a joint conference with the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) called the BAFT Asia Conference on Cash, Treasury & Trade. It is the first Asian conference organised by BAFT, an affiliate of the American Bankers Association that promotes the discussion of global issues in the financial services industry. Ali Yong is the youngest board director at any of the ten largest banks in Indonesia owing to his very impressive headway in transaction services Ali Yong is the Transaction and Services Director at Bank Danamon. In his role he holds a combination of operations and revenue-generating responsibilities that include the development and implementation of Danamon strategy in operations, transaction services, cash management, trade management, and custodial services. The youngest board director at any of the ten largest banks in Indonesia, Yong is in particular concerned with helping the bank push into the lucrative microfinance business by laying down infrastructure. Yong is not only instrumental in helping the bank building up its capacity in an area that it has targeted for aggressive growth, but he is helping the bank take a lead in Indonesia in other payment areas such as trade finance. For the impressive headway that he has made in transaction services, which has helped him break into the upper reaches of one of Indonesia?s largest banks, the Advisory Council of The Asian Banker Achievement Awards programme has chosen Ali Yong as the Young Banker of the Year for Indonesia. Rigorous selection process chaired by Mr David Eldon, Chairman, Board of Directors, Dubai International Financial Centre Authority and former Chairman of HSBC Asia Pacific The independent panel of judges comprises five notable international personalities: Chairman: Mr David Eldon, Chairman, Board of Directors, Dubai International Financial Centre Authority and former Chairman of HSBC Asia Pacific. Mr Eldon built the HSBC brand in Asia for over nearly 40 years during which the bank made several key acquisitions around the world. Members: Sir George Mathewson, Chairman Toscafund Holdings and former Chairman and CEO, Royal Bank of Scotland. Mr Cesar Virata, Corporate Vice-Chairman, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation and former Prime Minister of the Philippines Mr Byung Chul Yoon, Chairman, Financial Planning Standards Board Korea and former Chairman of Woori Financial Group Dr. Ishrat Husain, Chairman, National Commission for Government Reforms, Prime Minister's Secretariat, Pakistan and former Governor, State Bank of Pakistan International jury uses comprehensive selection criteria Awards are based on four inter-related criteria: i. Bottom line responsibility in a senior position. The candidate must be the manager of a business line or in some way leading a team in a decision-making capacity. ii. At least one major achievement (operationally or business-related) in the year under review. We then look at the candidate?s record for either a specific achievement or a series of achievements in the year under consideration. The size and complexity of the achievement(s) are taken into account. iii. Demonstrably ahead of his/her peers in the same age group. At some point rising bankers begin to break away from their peers, gravitating towards more senior people and eventually moving beyond them as well. iv. Submission must be signed off or endorsed by senior management. The Selection Process The selection process begins in November and ends in February of the following year, involving a team of six researchers working in tandem. Candidates do not apply for the award themselves, although third parties can nominate them. The initial selection is based on a survey and desk research done by The Asian Banker's research specialists. The identified candidates' contributions are then subject to further scrutiny through interviews, discussions with third parties including local banking journalists and analysts who have had contact with the candidates, peers and third party reviews. The shortlisted candidates are then submitted to the board of advisors for review following a comparative evaluation done by the research team. Appendix: The full list of winners under five categories' regional and international achievement awards, promising young banker awards, business achievement awards, supporting industry awards, and lifetime achievement awards. The Asian Banker Achievement Award Winners 2007 REGIONAL LEADERSHIP AWARDS The Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Award for the Asia Pacific and Gulf Region 2007 - K.V. Kamath, CEO and Managing Director, ICICI Bank, India The Asian Banker Achievement Award For Women in the Financial Services Industry 2007 - Kannikar Chalitaporn, President, Siam Commercial Bank, Thailand The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Regulation in the Financial Services Industry 2007 - The Hong Kong Monetary Authority The Asian Banker Award for the Most Admired Leader outside the Asia Pacific and Gulf Regions 2007 - Jamie Dimon, Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase The Asian Banker Award for The Most Admired Board in the Financial Services Industry 2007 DBS PROMISING YOUNG BANKER AWARDS The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for the Asia Pacific Region 2007 - Winner to be announced at the awards ceremony The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for the Gulf Region 2007 - Ala'a Eraiqat, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Abu Dhabi commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Australia 2007 - Geoff Lloyd, Group Executive, Wealth Management, St George Bank, and Chief Executive Officer, Asgard Wealth Solutions The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Bangladesh 2007 - Saifuddin M. Naser, Managing Director and CEO, BRAC Bank Afghanistan The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Brunei 2007 - Tareq Muhmood, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for China 2007 - Cao Tong, Deputy CEO, China CITIC Bank The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Hong Kong 2007 - Weber Lo, Chief Executive Officer and Country Business Manager, Citibank Global Consumer Group The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for India 2007 - Decision pending The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Indonesia 2007 - Ali Yong, Director, Transaction and Services, Danamon Bank The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Japan 2007 - Simon Yoo, Managing Director, Investment Banking Division, Nikko Citigroup The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Korea 2007 - Kang Weon-Kyeong, Team Manager, Hana Bank Gold Club The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Malaysia 2007 - Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, CEO, CIMB Islamic Bank The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for the Philippines 2007 - Raffy Algarra, Treasurer, Security Bank The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Singapore 2007 - Elaine Heng Yin Xuan, Head,Group CEO Office, Standard Chartered Bank The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Sri Lanka 2007 - Indrajit Wickramasinghe, Head, Retail Banking, National Development Bank, Sri Lanka The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Taiwan 2007 - Mark R. Wuscher, Treasury and Trade Solutions Sales Head, Citi The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Thailand 2007 - Piya Sosothikul, Head, Provincial Commercial Lending, Bangkok Bank The Asian Banker Promising Young Banker Award for Vietnam 2007 - Do Minh Toan, Head, Commercial Banking Division, Asia Commercial Bank REGIONAL BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Cash Management 2007 - Standard Chartered Bank The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Treasury 2007 - HSBC The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Trade Finance 2007 - JPMorgan Chase The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Payments 2007 - Citi The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Risk Management 2007 - ANZ, Australia The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Islamic Finance 2007 - Al Rajhi Bank, Saudi Arabia The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Corporate and Investment Banking 2007 - JPMorgan The Asian Banker Award for Commitment to Investors 2007 - NAB, Australia The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Technology/Operations - Commonwealth Bank of Australia THE ASIAN BANKER SUPPORTING INDUSTRY AWARDS The Asian Banker Achievement Award for Executive Search to the Commercial Banking Industry 2007 - Robert Walters The Asian Banker Award for Achievement in Legal Advice to the Commercial Banking Industry 2007 - Linklaters THE ASIAN BANKER LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS - Anil Khandelwal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bank of Baroda, India - Miki Shigemitsu, Chairman and Director, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan - John McFarlane, Chief Executive Officer, ANZ Banking Group, Australia About The Asian Banker The Asian Banker is the region?s most authoritative provider of strategic business intelligence to the financial services community. The Singapore-based company has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Beijing and Shanghai as well as representatives in London, New York and San Francisco. It has a business model that revolves around three core business lines: publications, research services and forums. For more information, please visit www.theasianbanker.com. For further information For more information regarding the event, please contact Peter Hoflich at phoflich@theasianbanker.com or Ananya Dutta at dananya@theasianbanker.com or by phone at +65 6236 6174.

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