39th ABA General Meeting and Conference

Director, Macroeconomics Research Division, Asian Development Bank

Abdul Abiad is Director of the Macroeconomic Research Division at the Asian Development Bank in Manila, where he oversees the ADB’s flagship publication, the Asian Development Outlook. From 2000 to 2015, he was with the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, where he worked on the World Economic Outlook. His research has focused on financial sector development and international financial integration, fiscal policy, exchange rates and trade, economic resilience, and infrastructure. A Philippine national, he has a BS in Mathematics from the University of the Philippines and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Head, Risk Management Department, Bank Pasargad

Mrs. Tootoonchian currently heads the Risk Management Bureau of Bank Pasargad in Tehran, Iran. She has been with the bank since 2006, starting off as Banking Officer with the Human Capital Development Department. She then served as a Banking Expert in several departments within the bank for several years. In 2012, became a Risk Officer under the Risk Management Bureau, subsequently moving on to become Deputy Head and then to her current position as Head. 

Head, Information Security Department, Bank Pasargad

As head of Bank Pasargad’s Information Security Department, Ms. Zendehdel is responsible for cyber security risk management and providing hardening solutions for servers, ATMs, network, and end points. She is involved in the management of security incidents, security assessment, and penetration testing projects, as well as the teaching of general cyber security courses. Additionally, she is Team leader of the Cyber Security Lab, Malware analysis Platform, Digital Forensics, and SOC (Security Operation Center).
Ms. Zendehdel got her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Azad University, and her Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering — System Management and Productivity from Kharazmi University. She has certificates in IT Project Management, Banking Risk Management, Cyber Security Risk Management, and Digital Transformation, among others.

Chairman Emeritus, ABA

Rajendra Theagarajah is currently Managing Director & CEO of Cargills Bank Limited and Member of the Board of Directors at Carson Cumberbatch.

He is the former Managing Director and CEO of Hatton National Bank; and held the position of CEO at National Development Bank in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Theagarajah is an Alumni of Price Waterhouse Coopers Sri Lanka. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK.
Having obtained an MBA from the Cranfield School of Management, UK, he joined the Chase Manhattan Bank in London and obtained extensive experience in Internal Control Systems, Branch operations, Global Custody and Treasury management within the bank’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Region.

Mr. Theagarajah is a Past President of the Association of Professional Bankers in Sri Lanka and served as the current chairman of Sri Lanka Banks Association.

Member, ABA Advisory Council

Daniel Wu is the immediate past President and CEO of Taiwan CTBC Financial Holding Co., Ltd. (“CTBC Holding”), which has an asset base of US$235BN and over 27,000 employees worldwide. CTBC Holding has eight subsidiaries including CTBC Bank, Taiwan Life Insurance, CTBC Securities, CTBC Venture Capital, CTBC Asset Management, CTBC Investments, CTBC Security and Taiwan Lottery. Daniel also chaired CTBC Holding’s Executive Committee.Daniel has over 30 years’ experience working in the U.S., Hong Kong, and Taiwan, leading global financial institutions to develop and expand business in Asia. Prior to joining CTBC Holding in 2005, he held many senior roles in the banking industry, including Chief Strategy Officer at Taishin Financial Holding (Taiwan); Head of North Asia, Financial Markets, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (Hong Kong); Head of Greater China, Sales and trading, Goldman Sachs Asia (Hong Kong); and Head of Greater China, Capital Markets, Bankers Trust (Hong Kong). Daniel started his career as a Management Associate at Citibank Taiwan.

Daniel has been awarded Asia’s Best CEO (Investor Relations) of Asian Excellence Recognition Awards for five consecutive years since 2012 and was among the Harvard Business Review’s Taiwan Top 50 CEO in 2016. Daniel was also awarded Asia’s Best CEO in Banking & Finance ESG by The Asset in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Best Leader of the Year Award by the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei in 2022. Daniel has served from 2014 to 2017 the Chairman of Asian Bankers Association(“ABA”), which is a non-profit organization comprised of 100 banks in Asia pacific to promote regional economic and financial collaboration. Currently he still serves as a member of the ABA Advisory Board.Daniel holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from university of Rochester. He currently resides in Taipei.

CEO, Beed Management

Deputy Head of Mission, British Embassy Kathmandu

Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Hatton National Bank

Mr. Rodrigo possesses over two decades in banking experience and is the Executive Director / Chief Operating Officer of Hatton National Bank PLC. He provides administrative leadership to Finance, IT, Credit, Operations, Risk Management, Banking Services, Compliance and Internal Audit functions. He is overseeing the cross functional teams involved in improving governance and compliance by serving in several Board and Management committees in the Bank. Mr. Rodrigo holds a MBA from Cranfield University UK, FCMA UK and FCCA UK.

He has played a catalyst role in the bank’s transformation and cultural change by being the driving force towards centralization, automation, outsourcing and process improvement initiatives and recognized for driving a performance culture through training, talent acquisition and introducing several breakthrough cost optimization initiatives.

Mr. Rodrigo has held many senior positions in multiple industries ranging from banking, insurance, investment banking and apparel. He presently functions as Chairman of HNB Finance PLC and holds Directorships in HNB Assurance PLC, Guardian Acquity Management, Lanka Financial Services Bureau and Credit Information Bureau. Mr. Rodrigo serves on the councils of the Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) and was the Chairman Policy Advocacy Committee of Asian Bankers Association (Taiwan) during 2011/12 and 2019/20.

CEO, Euracific Strategies

CEO, Bank of Bhutan

ABA Chairman and President and CEO, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation

Mr. Acevedo is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation or RCBC.

Prior to joining the Bank, he held senior leadership positions in five banks. He was President and CEO of Philippine National Bank where he led the bank’s rebranding and re-launch of key businesses, resulting into a three-fold rise in the bank’s share price. As SEVP in UnionBank, he transformed retail and corporate banking into major income contributors in three years. He grew the mass market and microfinance businesses through the acquisition of three thrift banks, two rural banks and a remittance company, adding over 600 offices to the bank’s network.
Mr. Acevedo is keenly interested in banking innovation and transformation. He is a Digital Marketing Professional certified by The Wharton School. He has User Experience accreditation from the British Computer Society Chartered Institute of IT.  He is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors, Trustee of De La Salle John Bosco College and the Chairman of the FINEX Financial Inclusion Committee.

Finance Minister, GoN

 President, Nepal Bankers’ Association

CEO and Secretary General, Qorus

John is a former Retail CEO at Abbey National (now part of Santander) in the UK. During his time there, roles included Marketing Director, European Director (Managing businesses in France, Spain and Italy), Transformation Director as well as Senior Distribution roles.

He received international recognition for customer centric innovations such as Costa Coffee and Branch Franchising.

He developed a global reputation for innovation when running his own business (consulting and training) post Abbey National/ pre Efma.
He was appointed CEO Efma in April 2020. Since then, the business has been repositioned to match the rapidly changing times driven by digitalization including a rebranding (to Qorus) in 2022 as a "need to have" business partner.

Chief Operating Officer, Authme

Kuo Chan is a seasoned entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in leadership, strategic planning, business operations and marketing.

As current Chief Operating Officer at Authme, he strategically drives growth by designing and implementing plans, setting performance goals and overseeing daily operations, while leading expansion efforts through investments, acquisitions, and alliances.

Prior to his role as COO, he was Chief Marketing Officer at Authme, where he expertly designed, planned, and executed effective marketing campaigns. He utilized research to target potential customers, creating pricing strategies that drive product/service adoption. He is thus proficient in market research, pricing, product marketing, communications, advertising, and public relations.

Chairman and Managing Director, Pashupati Renewables Pvt. Ltd.

CEO, Himalayan Bank Ltd and Advisor, Nepal Bankers’ Association

Chairman, Securities Board of Nepal

Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank

Chief Economist for Asia, BBVA

Dr. Le Xia is Chief Economist for Asia-Pacific at BBVA. He also serves as Senior Research Fellow in International Monetary Institute at Renmin University of China; and Council Member of Academic Committee of International Financial Forum. He served as Head of Research at Digital Economic Research Center of PingAn Technology. Dr. Xia has extensive interest in economic research, in particular monetary policy and banking sectors in emerging economies. His research about the RMB Swap Lines is influential in academia. He also publishes his works in the international media, including Nikkei Asian Review, OMFIF Monthly

Bulletin, People’s Daily, China Daily and FT Chinese. He has been frequently invited to comment on Asian economy at Bloomberg, CNBC, CGTN, RTHK, Phoenix TV, Financial Times and Wall Street Journal. He obtained his PhD from the University of Hong Kong and a master’s degree from Renmin University of China.

Advisor to the CEO and Board Member, Bank Pasargad

Mr. Beheshti Rouy, a veteran banker since 1971, has fulfilled an illustrious career of more than 30-years at Bank Mellat where he accomplished many high managerial duties prior to retirement in 2002, as the CEO of Bank Mellat Turkey; Director General-International Affairs; Director General-Planning & organization Division, and General Manager-Central Branch.

Before joining Bank PASARGAD in 2005 as one of the founding members of the Bank and later on as the Executive Board Member, he was Chief Representative of Dubai Islamic Bank in Iran; Deputy CEO of Bank PARSIAN and Deputy CEO of NARGAN, a prominent EPC company in Iran.

Since 2020 Mr. Beheshti Rouy decided to engage in some philanthropic activities but still continues his cooperation with Bank Pasargad as Senior Advisor to CEO & Board of Directors of Bank Pasargad.

Parallel to his banking career he was also the founder and the first CEO of Mellat Investment Company (plc) during 1991-1994, which he conceived, instigated and executed innovative measures to establish one of the first Investment companies in Iran.

He was also Member of the Management Committee of Iran Overseas Investment Bank in London, Advisor to the Supervisory Board of EIH Bank (AG) in Germany, Member of Banking Commission of the Iran Chamber of Commerce and Board Member of many Iranian Industrial and IT companies.

Throughout his Career, Mr. Beheshti Rouy has lectured and conducted various courses in Finance and International Banking Operations in different Iranian universities.

CEO, Cyberbeat Pte. Ltd.

Executive Director, Head of Trade Finance and Home Markets Desk Asia, Erste Group Bank AG

Mr. Bosbach has extensive experience as a key account manager of Financial Institutions in Asia for Trade Business products, and with German, Austrian and CEE corporations, MNCs —both local Chinese and international ones.

As Executive Director, Head of Trade Finance and Home Markets Desk Asia, he is the main entry point and relationship manager for trade business products with banks and customers in Asia (Mainland China, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Philippines). He is also the entry point for Asian companies interested in setting up manufacturing capabilities in Erste Group Bank’s home markets which need loans for their subsidiaries.

He has firm and excellent relationships with Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Mongolian banks and banks in SEA and also with relevant government authorities in China to develop business within policy initiatives.

He has excellent knowledge of the local banks in China, has strong negotiating, networking and intercultural skills to bridge between the Asian and Western mentality, and is experienced in approaching the decision makers in Financial Institutions, companies and government institutions.

He is fluent in Mandarin, English and German.

President, International Compliance Association (ICA)