KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 5): Malayan Banking Bhd (KL:MAYBANK) has appointed two new independent non-executive directors, Chiam Sou Hong and Vittorio Furlan, effective Monday.

Meanwhile, existing independent non-executive director Edwin Gerungan will retire from the board on Aug 23 after nine years of service, Malaysia’s biggest banking group by assets said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

The changes bring Maybank's total number of directors to 12.

Chiam is a corporate, finance, regulatory affairs, compliance and risk lawyer with extensive human rights, disputes resolution, mediation, public policy, and anti-corruption experience, said the filing.

She was the managing director, head of regulatory affairs Asia Pacific for Credit Suisse (Hong Kong) Ltd and head of regulatory affairs and policy Asia Pacific for HSBC. She also established the Mediation Ordinance and the Financial Dispute Resolution Centre in Hong Kong.

As for Furlan, Maybank said he has a background in digital transformation, data analytics, and artificial intelligence across diverse industries, such as banking, insurance, e-commerce, retail, agriculture, telco and public sector.

He had previously held senior positions, including regional head of business insights and regional head of business operations of Axiata Digital Advertising, and advisory director of data and analytics at EY Advisory based in Australia and Malaysia.

Prior to joining EY Advisory, Furlan worked for over a decade as a senior consulting manager with Accenture Digital in the UK and Australia.

Maybank's shares dropped 34 sen or 3.32% to close at RM9.90 on Monday, for a market capitalisation of RM120.42 billion.