Camacho to open ABA meeting

Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho will be the guest of honor during the opening ceremonies of the Asian Bankers Association (ABA) 20th general meeting on Oct. 7 at the Carlos P. Romulo auditorium of the RCBC Plaza in Makati City.

Camacho will give the inaugural address before some 150 top bankers and financial leaders from all over Asia.

This year’s ABA general meeting will include a series of sessions in line with the conference’s theme "Challenges and Competition in a Globalized Market." Topics of the seminars are focused on helping Asian banks meet the challenges of increased competition in terms of sounder risk management, better corporate governance and comprehensive strategies in response to global competition. Invited speakers are recognized international experts and practitioners on such issues.

The first session of the seminar will be on "Risk Management" with Ken McLay, managing director of Risk Solutions, as speaker. McLay is a chartered accountant and has been with Standard & Poor’s since 1992 starting with the financial services group and then moving to Risk Solutions group in 2001.

The second session, "Corporate Governance in Banking", will have as speaker Tan Sri Mohamed Basir bin Ahmad, chairman of Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), the largest banking group in Malaysia.

"Globalization and Asian Banking Competitiveness" will be the third topic during the ABA general meeting and seminar. Speaker will be David K.P. Li, chairman and chief executive of The Bank of East Asia.

The ABA is the biggest grouping of banks and financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific region. ABA is presently chaired by Ambassador Alfonso T. Yuchengco, honorary chairman of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.