Ms. Teresita Sy-Coson, chairperson, Banco De Oro Unibank Unibank, the Philippines
Starting off with the bank in 1976 when it was a small niche savings and retail bank, Teresita Sy-Coson, who is currently the chairperson of Banco De Oro Unibank (BDO Unibank), has been the visionary behind the success of the BDO Unibank, providing an array of industry-leading products and services to the retail and corporate markets. She was the tenacious force behind the tricky merger between BDO and Equitable PCI Bank in 2007. Under her leadership, the integrated BDO has emerged as the largest bank in the Philippines in terms of total resources, customer loans, total deposits and assets under management. Sy-Coson has brought the essence of retail into the realm of banking, revolutionising the banking scene in the Philippines with milestones such as being the first bank to place its branches and ATMs in malls. By introducing extended banking hours and bringing in new products suited to its customers, Sy-Coson continues to exemplify the bank’s motto - “We Find Ways”; finding ways to meet its customers’ needs.

Mr.Jonathan Larsen, Region Head Consumer Banking Asia Pacific, Citibank
In his role as Country Business Manager and CEO for Citibank in Singapore, Larsen was instrumental in transforming Citibank's presence in Singapore from five customer touch points to over 800, repositioning Citibank as a mainstream retail bank in the country. Larsen was a key driver of Citi's strategy change to look beyond the Citigold proposition and to expand the franchise from being a high street bank to a low street one, even as it targeted mass and emerging affluent segments. He has successfully partnered with the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) and deployed the innovative new branch model 'Smart banking' which leverages on small high tech branches conveniently located in high traffic areas in the network. Given the success of the Singapore roll-out, this branch expansion model is being replicated across the region including developed markets such as Japan and Hong Kong.

Mr Baek Soon Lee, President & Chief Executive Officer of Shinhan Bank
Mr Lee started his retail banking career in 1971 and in his 28 years with Shinhan bank, he played a major role in the operational integration of Shinhan's inorganic expansion, namely the acquisition of Cho-Hung Bank in 2004, the largest M&A deal in Korea's history and LG card in 2007. The Cho Hong merger was remarkable because Shinhan acquired a much older bank - with a customer base almost double their own, and a bank whose employees were resistant to the merger. Mr Lee was the driving force behind Shinhan's decision to integrate the two banks through a "Dual Bank System", giving the employees three years to adjust to the new situation before the integration was completed.

Dr Ma Weihua, President & Chief Executive Officer, China Merchants Bank
A former central banker, Mr Ma Weihua has been instrumental in driving China Merchant Bank's retail business expansion, building off the bank's market first-mover "all-in-one" card concept and becoming the first Chinese player to shift from a personal account settlement system focus to a customer-centric mindset, integrating a deposit and client viewpoint. Ma has to be credited as the first Chinese banking leader who looked towards retail business development as a source of wider bank sustainability, india tadalafil, famously telling his staff, "If you don't do corporate banking, it will be hard to survive today. However, if you don't do retail banking, then you won't survive tomorrow."

Mr Edmund Koh, DBS’s former Managing Director and Head of Regional Banking Group
In eight years at DBS Bank, Edmund Koh has made his mark. Mr Koh has significantly grown DBS’ consumer banking franchise across Asia. DBS is the biggest bank in Southeast Asia in terms of assets. DBS Bank retail banking franchise has grown from a mere 17 percent in 2002 to over 40 percent by end of 2007 and making DBS’s consumer franchise three times more profitable are undisputable achievements. He has a distinguished career in the Asian banking industry and has strong credentials in building successful businesses and entering new territories.”

The former Managing Director and Head of Regional Banking Group of DBS has moved on to lead Taiwan’s Ta Chong Bank.

Mr. Michael DeNoma, Group Executive Director of Consumer Banking, Standard Chartered Bank 
Mr. Mike DeNoma is the group executive director of Standard Chartered Bank's global consumer banking business. Based in Singapore, he has been in the role since May 2000, and with the bank since July 1999. While he has worked in banking at Citibank, DeNoma also has worked outside the industry at Proctor & Gamble, Pepsi, Hutchison Whampao, and founded and run his own company in China. Besides leading a rapidly growing business for the bank, the father of six is also committed to a variety of social organisations that help children around the world, including a personal mission to stop child pornography.

Mr. Masamoto Yashiro, Director, Chairman of the Board, Shinsei Bank
For his staunch commitment to building from scratch an operation that has transformed retail banking in Japan, even to the envy of much larger competitors, Mr. Masamoto Yashiro was named retail banker of the year for 2005. Mr. Yashiro has not always been a banker, coming to banking only after 30 years at oil company Esso Japan. But it was at Citibank Japan in 1989 that Mr. Yashiro’s vision, the focus on the customer, began to take shape, making Citibank one of Japan’s most innovative retail banks at that time. As CEO of Shinsei Bank since its inception in June 2000, Mr. Yashiro quickly set about laying a foundation for the retail bank that covered everything from the way bank branches look, to the way mortgages are paid, to the way Japanese think about interest on their deposits, nearly forgotten in Japan for a long time. Mr. Yashiro was awarded for not only his vision, but his drive and execution to successfully build a powerhouse in banking that would endure.

Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Executive Director and Head of Retail, ICICI Bank
Ms. Kochhar was instrumental in building her bank’s retail business from negligible into the largest retail business in India. In five years, the business has grown throughout all areas of retail banking with over 10 million retail customers, a 30 percent market share in lending, and a 23 percent market share in credit cards in 2004. Besides strong execution skills Chanda also demonstrated leadership by handpicking and surrounding herself with the best cohort of retail bankers from the foreign banks in India to build the business in record time.

Mr. Wilson Chia, Head of Consumer Banking, Standard Chartered Singapore
In the year under review, Wilson Chia of Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore delivered profitability that was almost 50 percent of the turnover of his business. As StanChart Singapore at the time was only a third a size of Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, this meant that he was delivering as much absolute profit in his Singapore business as his parent bank was in Hong Kong, where it was at least three times larger. Behind these numbers was a retail business that was lean and highly focused on achieving its numbers.

Ms. Chen Xiaoyen, Head of Retail Banking, ICBC
In 2002 when Chen Xiaoyen of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) won the award, she had overseen the consolidation of the bank’s 1,000 legacy data centers, into just two nationwide. She manages what is possibly the largest retail bank in the world. 100 million customers, 400,000 employees and more than 20,000 branches. Nowhere in the world is there a bank of that size, and the fact that Ms. Chen is able to steer the institution and contribute to the momentous changes taking place in China today is a testament to her caliber.