Training Consultants - About ABS | Asian Banking School

Dr. Paramsothy Vijayan

Director of Graduate Training & FSTEP / Senior Consultant

Dr Vijay started his career working in one of the big 8 Chartered Accountants and Management Consultancy firms in the UK. He has over 20 years of banking experience working in local and foreign banks up to a senior management level, ranging over a diverse range of disciplines. He is currently involved in structuring bespoke technical and soft skill programmes for banks. In addition, he is involved in the curriculum working committee for professional qualification programmes such as the Chartered Banker and Bank Risk Management. He is also a designated Chartered Banker trainer, bringing a fresh approach to self-directed learning using mind-mapping techniques, case studies and problem-based learning. Dr Vijay has published banking and finance related text books and journal articles internationally, including, "Success Factors for the Implementation of Entrepreneurial Knowledge Management in Malaysian Banks" (Journal of Information & Knowledge Management, 2013).

He holds an Honours Degree in Accounting and Finance from Scotland, a Master of Science Degree in Multimedia Technology (Banking), a Doctor of Business Administration (Banking Strategy and Marketing) from Australia, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Knowledge Management in Banking) from Malaysia. He is also a Certified Training Professional (ARTDO) and Certified HRDF Trainer.

Vijay is a sports car enthusiast and spends his weekends driving his sports car on the LEKAS Highway, which cuts across some beautiful scenic views of the mountains. His life’s motto – Success is not a destiny but a journey.

Professor Dr Bala Shanmugam

Course Director (Accounting & Banking)

Professor Dr Bala Shanmugam is a renowned academic with more than 30 years of teaching experience across Europe, Australia and Malaysia. He is currently holding multiple posts at SEGi University, Malaysia - Director of SEGi-Mimos Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Director of Islamic Centre for Emerging Technologies, and Professor at their Research & Innovation Management Centre. He served as Chair and Professor of Accounting and Finance at Monash University, Malaysia for ten years. He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland, UK and Adjunct Professor at the Asia e University, Malaysia.

Apart from his academic roles, he has also worked with the Malaysian government, consultancy firms, financial institutions, and private educational institutions in providing consultancy in the areas of banking and finance. He has worked on projects for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank, as well as sat on the Boards and Advisory Committees of several institutions. From 2005 to 2007, he was appointed as Director of RHB Bank and Independent Director of RHB Islamic.

His areas of research and interest include Islamic Finance/Insurance, Risk Management, Microfinance, Electronic Banking, AI, Money Laundering, FinTech and Cryptocurrency. To date, he has published almost 200 articles and papers, as well as 45 books, which include his contributions to Capital Markets Research (KLSE), Banker’s Journal Malaysia (BJM), Southeast Asian Review, Journal of Internet Banking & Commerce, Australian Financial Review and Asian Institute of Finance Review. He has been cited in the media many times over the years and have made appearances on Astro Bloomberg News, Media Corporation Radio Singapore and Bernama TV, to name a few.

Prof Bala is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (UK), a Fellow of the International Centre for Asian Studies (ICAS), Senior Associate of the Australian Institute of Bankers (AIB), Associate of the Institute of Asian Studies and a member of the Malaysian Economic Association. He holds a B.A. (Banking, Insurance and Finance) Honours, University of Wales, Bangor, UK; Master of Business Studies (Honours), National University of Ireland, Dublin; and Doctor of Philosophy, University of Wollongong, Australia. He is a certified AIB from the Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK and a Fellow of Certified Practicing Accountants (FCPA), Australia.

Prof Bala is proficient in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Cantonese. His interests include literature, classical music, badminton, squash and jogging.

Lim Guan Chye

Director of Commercial Banking

Lim Guan Chye has 35 years of working experience in the banking industry as well as at senior management levels in commercial organisations.

Over a 25-year period, he has worked at Malayan Banking Bhd. (Maybank), The Pacific Bank (now acquired by Maybank) and EON Bank (now under Hong Leong Bank Berhad) where he held senior positions including Regional Manager – Northern Region, as well as United Overseas Bank (UOB) as Vice President with in depth knowledge and exposure to credit processing, banking operations and branch management. After his stint in banking, he joined the commercial sector and worked for 10 years with various companies in areas involving finance, human resources, marketing, risk and general management. He then ventured on his own and prior to joining the Asian Banking School, was a Management and Financial Consultant assisting companies in developing their businesses, human resource competence and strategic planning activities.

Guan Chye was an invited speaker to the 1st Borneo Summit in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in 2013 and authored his latest book in 2021 entitled “The Quick Guide Series - About Business and Banking”.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Analytical Economics (2nd Upper Honours) from the University of Malaya and is a holder of the Certified Credit Professional Certification awarded by the Institute of Bankers Malaysia (now known as Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers). He is also a certified HRDF trainer.

He is an avid golfer and badminton player, and is a contributor to Ipoh Echo – a bi-monthly community newsletter.

Cheah Wee Leong

Director of Investment Banking Training

Cheah Wee Leong has more than 25 years’ experience working in the banking industry with local and foreign banks in various roles and capacities. A seasoned professional, Wee Leong brings with him broad experience as a former banker and management consultant.

Wee Leong started his career at Citibank in 1993 before joining US management consultancy firm Accenture in 1997. At Accenture, he was involved in managing large bank merger-integration, process re-engineering and transformation projects. He has worked in projects in various countries including Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia.

In 2003, Wee Leong joined CIMB as its Head of Operational Risk Management and led the implementation of the bank’s operational risk management and Basel 2 – Operational Risk framework. Subsequently, he assumed various senior roles in Trade Finance, Regional Transaction Banking, Corporate Banking, Treasury and Markets division and Group CEO office at CIMB. He was instrumental in helping CIMB win numerous awards in Transaction Banking in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand as Head of Regional Marketing, Regional Transaction Banking from 2011-2014. His last role at CIMB was as Director, Group Strategy.

Wee Leong holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the USA and a Master of Business Administration (with Distinction) from the Anglia Ruskin University, UK. He obtained training from Citibank Asia Pacific Banking Institute in Singapore in 1995. He is a certified Chartered Banker, Finance Accreditation Agency (FAA) Certified Training Professional, Certified HRDF Trainer and a holder of the PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner Certificate in Project Management.

Wee Leong enjoys reading, jogging, cycling and travelling in his free time and is involved in community service work.

Lew Taw Fong

Senior Consultant

Lew Taw Fong has over 32 years of banking experience where he worked for Maybank holding various key positions including Branch Manager, Regional Trainer and Facilitator, Head of Trade Finance, Chief Operating Officer Maybank Hong Kong and Group Organisational Trainer.

His areas of training expertise include Branch Banking Operations, Introduction to Trade Financing, AMLA/CTF, Central Credit Reference Information Search (CCRIS), Fraud Detection and Prevention, Introduction to Credit and System Work Flow for Mortgage and Investment Loans. He was also the Master Trainer for the Microfinance Training for Practitioners 2017 jointly organised by the Asian Banking School with Bank Negara Malaysia and the World Bank Group.

Lew holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Majoring in Management, from the University of Ottawa, Kansas, US. He is a Certified Manager Trainer from the Singapore Institute of Management, Certified HRDF trainer, Certified Training Professional by the Finance Accreditation Agency (FAA) and a certified FAA Assessor for Individual/Branch Managers.

Lew was a former footballer for the national team during the Malaysia Cup in the late 70s and early 80s. His favourite hobbies are reading, singing, doing charity work, swimming, jogging, tennis and badminton.

Sharon Chan Yit Ming

Senior Consultant

Sharon has over 33 years of working experience in the banking sector. She is a Chartered Banker and holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Sharon started her career at a global foreign bank where she gained hands-on exposure and experience in a wide range of branch operations. After 4 years, she moved on to a large local Investment Bank as a Treasury dealer where for the next 8 years, she was involved in a variety of money market and capital market activities. Subsequently, she joined a pioneer team to set up the risk management division of the Investment Bank where she wrote several new risk management policies and guidelines, systems and methodologies set up, as well as various operational manuals for market, credit and operational risk management, including assets and liabilities management, anti-money laundering and business continuity management. Sharon is also a Certified Business Continuity Planner and Certified HRDF Trainer.

Sharon’s next role was at the banking group level where her job scope and responsibilities expanded to a much wider spectrum of universal banking covering retail and commercial banking, Islamic banking, investment banking, stockbroking, asset management as well as insurance. In her 24 years with this conglomerate banking group, Sharon has held various senior positions including Head of Investment Bank Risk Management, Head of Group Enterprise Risk Management and Head of Group Regional Risk Management during which she worked closely with all hierarchy of the organization from junior staff to board of directors. She was a member of various Management committees and also sat as the chairperson of MIBA (Malaysia Investment Bank Association)’s Risk Management Committee, an industry working group, for six consecutive years.

Aazad Ananthan Abdullah

Senior Consultant & Integrity Officer

Aazad Ananthan Abdullah has 23 years of working experience in foreign banks including in Labuan offshore banks. During his tenure as a Trade Finance Manager at several banks in Labuan, he was responsible for overseeing the project to set up their Trade Finance Department and SWIFT payment system. Later, while heading the Compliance Department in these banks, he also managed the implementation of policy and procedures pertaining to the overall trade finance operations and compliance.

Aazad holds a Bachelor of Jurisprudence (Law) from Universiti Malaya (UM) and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Universiti Utara Malaysia. He is currently pursuing his Master of Commercial Law at University Malaya. He has an Advanced Certification in AML/CFT jointly awarded by the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers and International Compliance Association in collaboration with the University of Manchester Business School.

Aazad specialises and delivers training in the subjects of anti-money laundering/ counter-financing of terrorism, international sanctions and provides consultancy work related to AML/CFT policy and procedures for the financial industry. He is a Senior Consultant at the Asian Banking School and is also a HRDF certified trainer.

Abu Bakar Abdul Rahman

Senior Consultant

Abu Bakar Abdul Rahman has more than 30 years of experience in various executive roles as Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Internal Auditor and in several roles in consumer credit and banking operations for a leading universal banking group, a foreign bank, other local banking groups and a financial development bank.

He has led development, design and implementation of Group Regulatory Compliance programmes, policy and procedures, governance, oversight, and engagement structure including training and education. He subsequently introduced and streamlined group-wide and regional compliance programmes including various education initiatives and training programmes.

Aside from this, Bakar has developed and implemented a risk self-assessment programme to continuously strengthen the effective controls of internal processes and enhanced staff competency. This effort led to an award for Compliance Risk and Control Self-Assessment Programme Most Innovative Systems Solutions by Tricor Roots. He had also led the development and implementation of an AML/CFT Transactional Monitoring System via an integrated system solutions bank-wide. One of the projects was awarded the MIS Asia Award for Anti-Money Laundering System Solutions in Best Knowledge Management Category. He also has valuable and extensive working experience with regulators, law enforcement agencies and relevant stakeholders.

In the audit environment, Bakar led the development and implementation of the Global Institute of Internal Auditors’ International Professional Practices Framework [IPPF] Certification. He also led a working team towards the development and implementation of an internal audit (IA) performance management system via integrated system solution to enable auditors to drive agile IA programmes aligned with organisation goals and the bank’s multi-dimensional risks.

Bakar holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration (Hons) and Certified Professional in Financial Crime Compliance (Manchester). He is a Member of the International Compliance Association, Associate Member of Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB) and Senior Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia. He was also a member of the Compliance Officers Networking Group (CONG).

His interest includes travelling, reading and sport activities. In charity, he is a Life Member of the Society of Orthopedically Handicapped Malaysia and holds a Certificate in International Disabled Sports and Coaching.

Shahrul Adzuan Ahmad

Consultant

Shahrul Adzuan Ahmad has 27 years of working experience in the banking sector, with 24 of those years in training and development at several banking institutions. He started his career in banking in 1990 as a Branch Officer when he joined Maybank Finance Berhad.

He then went on to join EON Finance Bhd in 1993 as a Training Officer, which then marked the start of his training and development career. In 2004, he became a trainer at EON Bank Bhd where he conducted technical and non-technical programmes. His last position prior to joining the Asian Banking School was with United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Berhad where he was involved in numerous bank-wide training initiatives and programmes, with Foreign Exchange Administration (FEA) Rules being one of the key training programmes he conducted. Other training programmes delivered during his years with the banks include Exchange Control Notices of Malaysia (ECM), AML/CFT related programmes, credit-related programmes, Leadership Development and soft-skills programmes. He also developed new training programmes and reviewed training content for improvement and enhancement, as well as coordinated and administered the internal AML/CFT e-learning programmes.

Shahrul holds a Diploma in Banking Studies from Institut Teknologi Mara (now known as Universiti Teknologi Mara) and a Bachelor’s Degree (Sc.) in Human Resource Development from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. He is also a Certified Training Professional (CTP), DiSC - Certified Behavioural Consultant (CBC) and Certified HRDF Trainer.

Travelling, photography and exploring nature are some of his interests, apart from his favourite sport activities that include jogging, football, futsal and cycling.

Michelle Loo Phoy Wan

Consultant

Michelle Loo has more than 10 years of banking experience in secured and unsecured lending, wealth products, bancassurance, SME banking and branch management.

Michelle started her career in the banking industry with HSBC Bank as a Mortgage Executive. In 2008, she joined OCBC as a Business Development Manager in SME Banking and during which time, the team she was in achieved Top 5 in the nationwide overall performance. Following that, she joined Maybank as a Mortgage Consultant. She was one of the pioneers in the Direct Sales Team and recognized as the Nationwide Top Team for 3 consecutive years. She then went on to join Alliance Bank and was promoted as Branch Manager. Subsequently, she joined Public Bank in Regional Sales and Support in SME Bancassurance, supporting 19 branches in the Klang Valley. Her main task was to maintain Regional top sales, which she achieved for 2 consecutive years.

At the Asian Banking School, she is involved in developing e-Learning content, storyboarding and gamification, as well as having the role as a Trainer for the “Introduction to Ethics in Banking” programme. Michelle holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics majoring in Finance from University Putra Malaysia. She is also a Certified HRDF Trainer.

Outside of work, she enjoys listening to music and reading books on personal development.

Sylphy Chui

Consultant

Sylphy Chui has more than 16 years of experience in the banking sector in credit sales and marketing, credit evaluation and credit approvals, consumer and commercial loans, and branch management.

She started her career as a Senior Sales and Marketing Executive at Public Bank Berhad in one of their branches where she gained valuable knowledge in branch operations. She then went on to their regional office, where she supported more than 15 branches in the sales team and gained recognition as the Top Three Sales Achiever for 2003 and 2004. In 2005, after receiving the Regional Top Sales Achiever Award, Sylphy was promoted to Sales and Marketing Manager, leading the sales team in the Regional Office. She was promoted again in 2007 and became Business Manager, based in one of their Kuala Lumpur branches. There she led the Credit Department and handled most of the credit portfolios with her team.

Sylphy’s career at Public Bank continued to flourish and in 2012, was promoted to Branch Manager. She was responsible for ensuring the smooth functioning of the entire branch and meeting all the KPIs with assistance from her team. During this time, the branch she managed maintained themselves as an award-winning branch for five years consecutively from 2013 to 2017.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, double majoring in Economics and Marketing, from Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia. She is also a Certified Credit Professional (CCP) awarded by the Institute of Bankers Malaysia (now known as AICB) and Certified HRDF Trainer.

During her leisure time, Sylphy enjoys reading, watching movies and travelling with her family.

CAREER OPPORTUNITY

TRAINING CONSULTANTS

“I BELIEVE THAT ABS HAS A GOOD VALUE PROPOSITION FOR CAREER BANKERS THAT ARE LOOKING FOR A CHANGE. IT IS A UNIQUE CAREER OPPORTUNITY AND THEY CAN ALWAYS RETURN TO THE INDUSTRY AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE, AS WORKING FOR ABS AS A TRAINING CONSULTANT REQUIRES THEM TO STAY UP-TO-SPEED WITH THE LATEST PRODUCTS AND TRENDS IN THEIR FIELD OF EXPERTISE.”

Professor DC Gardner

CEO, Asian Banking School