KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd has appointed Datuk John Chong Eng Chuan as the new group chief executive officer (CEO), Community Financial Services (CFS) effective July 18.
He is taking over from Datuk Lim Hong Tat who will retire from Maybank effective the same day.
Chong, who is currently the CEO of Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) & Maybank Kim Eng (MKE), has 25 years of experience in investment banking with the Maybank Group, having joined Maybank IB (then Aseambankers Malaysia Bhd) in March 1993 as an officer in the banking department.
Within nine years, he was appointed head of Debt Capital Markets (DCM), and was instrumental in establishing Maybank Group’s DCM business and leading it to its current top-ranking position in Malaysia, Asean and globally for sukuk.
He completed numerous landmark transactions encompassing bond and sukuk issuances, syndicated loans and project financing.
In July 2010, Chong was appointed managing director and head of client coverage private sector, and was tasked to develop and implement the group’s very first client coverage model.
In this role, Chong was responsible for overseeing client relationships, origination and business development of Maybank’s Global Banking corporate clients in Malaysia and regionally and was instrumental in expanding the reach of Maybank’s client coverage team across the region.
In January 2013, Chong was appointed deputy CEO of Maybank IB and in September of the same year, assumed the role as interim officer-in-charge of the investment bank as well as acting head of MKE, prior to being officially appointed the CEO of Maybank IB & MKE in February 2014.
Under his leadership, MKE established itself as one of Asean’s leading investment banks while maintaining its leadership in Malaysia.
Maybank IB was also named Best Investment Bank in Malaysia by Euromoney for 3 succeeding years, from 2015 to 2017.
Chong holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) degree from the University of Queensland, in Brisbane, Australia.
He is a Chartered Banker of the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers and has also completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.