HLB MAKES TWO KEY APPOINTMENTS

Hong Leong Bank has made two key appointments recently. It has appointed Ms. Foong Pik Yee as its Chief Financial Officer and Ms Jean Yap as its Regional Head for Cards and Personal Financing effective 18 January and 3 January, respectively.

Ms. Foong Pik Yee, Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Foong has over 20 years of experience at strategic and tactical levels in banks across Asia, Oceania and Middle East markets, namely Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Lebanon. She brings a distinctive mix of corporate finance, compliance, strategy and product management, marketing, and service quality skills in delivering strategic growth ambitions and establishing robust governance framework for financial institutions.

Prior to joining HLBB, Ms. Foong was with Standard Chartered Berhad where her most recent role was Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Sal Lebanon. She has also served in ANZ, HSBC and JP Morgan in Australia, among other consultancies. A qualified chartered accountant, Ms Foong holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Business Administration from University of Melbourne and Monash University, Australia respectively.

Ms. Jean Yap, Regional Head of Group Cards and Personal Financing

Ms Yap brings with her a wealth of experience spanning 25 years in the unsecured lending business across regional and global banks, and is one of the respected Card Business Heads in Malaysia. Her last posting was with CIMB as Regional Head of Group Cards and Personal Financing and notably her involvement in establishing Malaysia as its Regional Center of Excellence as well as launching the unsecured lending business in Singapore, making it a niche player in the market today.

Also a qualified chartered accountant, Ms. Yap is a member of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).

"It gives me great pleasure to welcome Pik Yee and Jean to the Hong Leong Bank leadership team. With their proven track record and expertise in their respective areas, their addition to the team will be an impetus for us to further drive value creation for our franchise as well as accelerate growth in the region," remarked Datuk Yvonne Chia, Hong Leong Bank's Group Managing Director.-END-Press Release - 21/01/2013