KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has appointed Sreesanthan Eliathamby, Datuk Johan Ariffin, Cheah Teik Seng and  Alister Maitland as its new independent directors.

It said on Aug 21 the appointments would take effect from Aug 26 and bring to more than half the number of independent directors on the Maybank board.

"The board will now have a total of 12 directors - one executive director, four non-independent non-executive directors and seven independent non-executive directors," it said.

Maybank chairman Tan Sri Mohamed Basir Ahmad said the banking group welcomed its new directors and their combined corporate experience and wise counsel would be a great asset to the board and the Maybank group.

"Our vision for the Group and strategic roadmap for the future to transform Maybank into a leading regional financial services group require that we have in place a board with diverse knowledge and expertise both local and international to meet the challenges ahead of us," he said.

* Sreesanthan Eliathamby, 48, is an Advocate & Solicitor and a Partner with the legal firm of Messrs Kadir, Andri & Partners.  
He obtained his undergraduate law degree from the University of Malaya and his post graduate degree in law from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.  He was formerly a

Legal Assistant and later a Partner with the legal firm of Messrs Zain & Co.

Sreesanthan is a member of the Investment Committee of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 Fund, Bursa Malaysia Listing Committee and the Investigating Tribunal Panel of the Advocates and Solicitors' Disciplinary Board.  

He currently sits on the Boards of Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad, Scomi Group Berhad and Guinness Anchor Berhad.

* Johan Ariffin, 50, received his early education at the Penang Free School before winning a government scholarship to further his studies at Indiana University, US.  After obtaining his Bachelor in Economics, he went on to the University of Miami where he completed his Master of Business Administration in 1981.

Upon his return to Malaysia, he  served in the real estate division of Citibank. Thereafter, he held various senior positions in several public listed companies as well as venturing into his own successful marketing and advertising consultancy and property development business.  

With the advent of the Asian financial crisis, Johan was called upon to serve the nation. He headed Danaharta's Property Division as Senior General Manager before moving on to head TTDI Development Sdn Bhd up to January 2009.

Johan is currently the chairman of Mitraland Properties Sdn Bhd and a national council member of the Real Estate Housing Developers' Association Malaysia (REHDA), besides serving on the boards of several other companies.

* Cheah Teik Seng, 55, holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manchester, UK. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

As a federal government Public Services Department scholarship holder, he served in the civil service in the early '80s. Since leaving government service, he served in various capacities in the banking and financial services industry both locally in Malaysia as well as in London, Hong Kong and Singapore. He held positions in Public Bank, Chase Manhattan Bank, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, UBS and in BNP Paribas holding the position of Managing Director for a tenure of 9 years.

He was appointed as CEO-designate of ECM Libra Avenue Group in 2006. He is currently a director and partner of Aktis Capital Singapore Pte Ltd.  

Cheah sits on the board of various private equity companies in Hong Kong, China and Malaysia.  He is also an independent non-executive director of two hedge funds.

* Maitland, 68, holds a degree in Commerce from Victoria University, New Zealand. In his career spanning 35 years in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, Maitland held many key roles within the ANZ Banking Group Ltd including that of chief economist and managing director of ANZ New Zealand.

In his last six years with the ANZ Group, he served on the main board of ANZ Bank as Executive Director International, directly responsible for ANZ Group's operations in 42 countries.

He is currently chairman of Folkestone Ltd. He also sits on the board of directors of Lihir Gold Ltd and was previously chairman of Eastern Health, an Australian government organization.