Corporate Governance

Lai Wan, aged 80, male, was appointed as a Director of Public Bank on 26 April 2012. He was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of Public Bank on 26 September 2017 and was re-designated as Independent Non-Executive Chairman of Public Bank with effect from 1 January 2019. He was re-designated as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Chairman with effect from 26 April 2021, upon reaching the maximum 9 years tenure as an Independent Non-Executive Director. He is a member of the Risk Management Committee, the Compliance Committee, the Credit Risk Management Committee and the Board Sustainability Management Committee.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from the University of Malaya. He is an Associate of the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers.

Mr Lai has 50 years of experience in the banking and finance related industries. He had served Bank Negara Malaysia for 20 years and the last position held before his resignation in 1985 was as the Deputy Manager, Bank Examination and Internal Audit Department.

Mr Lai had working experience in three finance companies from 1985 to 1994 where he had held senior management positions.

Mr Lai was appointed the President/Chief Executive Officer of a Malaysian bank in 1997 until his retirement on 31 December 2000.

Upon retirement from full time employment, Mr Lai continued to be engaged in finance related industries through his directorships in various companies.

His directorships in other public companies within the Public Bank Group are as Chairman of Public Financial Holdings Ltd (a public company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong) and Public Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd and as Director of Public Bank (L) Ltd.

Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Tay Ah Lek, aged 80, male, has 62 years' experience in the banking and finance industry. He was appointed as an Executive Director of Public Bank on 18 June 1997 and was re-designated as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 July 2002. He joined the Public Bank Group as a pioneer staff in 1966. He was the Executive Vice-President of Public Bank from 1995 to 1997 and prior to this appointment, he was the Executive Vice-President of the former Public Finance Bhd. He is the Chairman of the Management Committee, the Credit Committee, the IT Steering Committee, the Assets & Liabilities Management Committee, the Share Investment Committee, the Operational Risk Management Committee, the Business Continuity Management Committee, the Sustainability Management Committee, and the Losses and Claims Committee, and is a member of the Group Human Resource Committee.

He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from Henley, United Kingdom and he is an Alumni of Harvard Business School. He is an Emeritus Fellow of the Malaysian Institute of Management, a Fellow, Chartered Banker, of the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers, and is a Fellow of CPA Australia and the Financial Services Institute of Australasia.

He is presently the Chairman of the Association of Hire Purchase Companies Malaysia and is a Council Member of the Association of Banks in Malaysia and the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers.

His directorships in other public companies in the Public Bank Group include as Chairman of Public Mutual Bhd and as Director of Public Investment Bank Bhd, Public Islamic Bank Bhd and Public Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. His directorships in other public companies are in Cagamas Holdings Bhd and Ombudsman for Financial Services.

Cheah Kim Ling, aged 66, female, was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Public Bank on 29 April 2014. She was re-designated as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from 29 April 2023, upon reaching the maximum 9 years tenure as an Independent Non-Executive Director. She is a member of the Compliance Committee, the Credit Risk Management Committee, the Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Risk Management Committee.

Ms Cheah holds a Bachelor of Accounting (Honours) degree from the University of Malaya and is also a Chartered Accountant of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

She had served Bank Negara Malaysia for 32 years whereby she was involved in all aspects of banking regulation from formulation of policies / regulations / guidelines to the administration of different legislations governing financial institutions.

Ms Cheah was also involved in formulating and executing strategies and policies for payment systems, administering the legislations, oversight of the payment systems and payment instruments, development of the payment infrastructure to support developments in the financial system and promoted the migration to electronic payments.

Her directorships in other public companies within the Public Bank Group are as Director of Public Financial Holdings Ltd (a public company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong) and Public Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd.

Lee Chin Guan, aged 64, male, was appointed as a Director of Public Bank on 27 December 2018.  He is a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, the Risk Management Committee and the Compliance Committee.

Mr Lee qualified as a Barrister-at-Law from the Middle Temple, United Kingdom in 1982.  He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Science (Honours) from the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology, England and Degrees in Law from Cambridge University, Oxford University and Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Mr Lee has 25 years of experience in legal matters, with 13 years of experience in legal practice, principally in commercial and corporate matters.

His directorships in other public companies within the Public Bank Group are as Director of Public Financial Holdings Ltd (a public company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong) and Public Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. His directorships in other public companies are as Director of LPI Capital Bhd (a public company listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd) and Lonpac Insurance Bhd.

Dato’ Mohd Hanif bin Sher Mohamed, aged 71, male, was appointed as a Director of Public Bank on 22 January 2019. He is the Chairman of the Audit Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, and is a member of the Risk Management Committee, the Compliance Committee and the Credit Risk Management Committee.
 
Dato’ Mohd Hanif holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Northland Open University, United Kingdom.
 
Dato’ Mohd Hanif has vast experience in corporate finance and consumer banking including strategic planning, risk management, rehabilitation and restructuring debts, property development, property investment and manufacturing and road maintenance.
 
He was the former Chief Executive Officer of Credit Corporation (Malaysia) Bhd, where he had served for over 26 years, and he had held various senior management positions. 
 
He is presently the Chairman of Sivash Holdings Bhd.
 
His directorship in other public company within the Public Bank Group is as Director of Public Mutual Bhd.

Tham Chai Fhong, aged 66, female, was appointed as a Director of Public Bank on 1 June 2019.  She serves as the Chairperson of the Compliance Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee, the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, the Risk Management Committee and the Board Sustainability Management Committee.
 
Ms Tham holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Mathematics from the University of Malaya and a Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Science from University of Malaya.
 
She possesses extensive experience in IT systems, capabilities and applications from her tenure of 26 years in IT functional areas in one of the largest banking groups in Malaysia.

Lim Chao Li, aged 57, male, was appointed as a Director of Public Bank on 5 April 2021. He is the Chairman of the Board Sustainability Management Committee, and is a member of the Audit Committee, the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, the Risk Management Committee and the Compliance Committee.
 
Mr Lim holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree majoring in Accounting and Finance from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, USA.  He also holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Systems Engineering) degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
 
Mr Lim’s main business training and expertise are in accountancy and finance, where he had previously served in Deloitte & Touche and Johnson & Johnson Medical Malaysia.
 
He is presently the Chief Commercial Officer of Hotel Equatorial Management Sdn Bhd. His directorships in other public companies within the Public Bank Group are as Director of Public Financial Holdings Limited (a public company listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong) and Public Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd. His directorship in other public company is in JcbNext Bhd (a public company listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd).

Gladys Leong, aged 61, female, was appointed as a Director of Public Bank on 1 July 2021. She is the Chair of the Risk Management Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee, the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, the Compliance Committee and the Board Sustainability Management Committee.

Ms Gladys is a Certified Public Accountant of the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a Chartered Accountant of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants.

Ms Gladys has more than 35 years of experience in providing assurance and advisory services to her clients during her professional career, which includes public listed companies, multinational companies, government agencies and regulators as well as non-governmental organisations.

She was a partner for more than 20 years, in Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young and concurrently, she held other senior management positions in Asia Pacific Advisory and Asean Advisory, Ernst & Young.

Her directorship in other public company within the Public Bank Group is as Director of Public Mutual Bhd. Her directorship in other public company is in Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (a public company listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd).