GBA Newsletter: June2009

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GBA Newsletter

Letter from the Chair

Having more women at the top levels of banking continues to make global news. The financial fallout underscores the importance of having women represented at both senior management levels and as more than just token numbers on those financial institution’s Board of Directors.
I have been impressed with the recent quantity of research reports, corporate studies and myriad of news stories focusing on the need for women to lead. It seems timely to share a few of these articles with you, and to acknowledge those who are in the vanguard of reshaping their organizations.
Banks Must Make Gender Balance a Priority to Avoid Another Fall – Article by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO, 20-first
It’s time to move beyond the “Lehman Sisters would have survived” argument. This suggested that if women had been in charge, the banks would not have fallen into crisis in 2008. Click here to read more…
Interview with Jaspal Bindra, CEO, Asia, Standard Chartered Bank Advancing Women in Senior Management: Five years ago, not many senior managers at Standard Chartered Bank were women. Now, the company has over 20% female representation at senior management level. And this was achieved without any positive discrimination. Click here to read more…
CEO’s Who “Get It”: Kundapur Vaman Kamath, ICICI Bank As the head of ICICI Bank for over ten years, MD & CEO Kundapur Vaman Kamath has plenty of lessons to teach managers. Here are some: Click here to read more… Welcome Nordea Bank!
This month it is with great pleasure we welcome Nordea Bank, as our new member. The Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden is Nordea’s home market. The Baltic Sea region of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania including Poland and Russia is Nordea’s emerging home market. The Nordea Group has approximately 10 million customers in the Nordic region and new European markets, and is a leader in the industry with 5.3MM e-customers. Operations include 34,000 employees and 1,400 bank branches.
Annual Summit planning underway
Our Summit committee is in the early stages of developing the program for our Summit in Singapore in October, 2009. Please take a moment of your time to send us your thoughts to the questions on the right hand column. It is your input that will shape the programs that will give you the most value. Our continued thanks to our host bank, Standard Chartered. I wish you all continued success in your ongoing endeavors. Sincerely, Larke Riemer Head of Women’s Markets Westpac Banking Corporation GBA Board Chair
Advisory Board Profile
Barbara Mowat, President Impact Communications Limited www.ImpactCommunicationsLtd.com Abbotsford, British Columbia Canada Barbara Mowat is one of our longest term Advisory Board members and she has been with us from the early days. We thank her sincerely for her dedication and advice to help shape the GBA for Women and for her recruiting new members. Barbara Mowat is well known and recognized  as an international business development  and trade specialist. She is the founder of Impact Communications Limited, a multi-faceted consulting company that provides clients with expertise in  three major activity areas: management training and consulting; writing of training and business guides and materials; and, international product, business and market development for the global marketplace, including creating and producing trade shows, conferences, forums, and trade missions. Barb created the well-respected Uniquely Programs that helped entrepreneurs access the global marketplace. She is an international leader in the development of SME enterprises, with a special emphasis on women. Barbara has facilitated trade throughout Canada, South East Asia, USA, South America, Europe, Afghanistan, India and Africa. Her achievements were acknowledged with the prestigious Canadian Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Impact on the Local Economy. She was the founder and Publisher of Home Business Report, the first Canadian national newsstand magazine for micro-enterprises. She is also the founder and Chapter Chair in Vancouver for 2 chapters of Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO). Barb says… “For over 20 years, my message has always been that access to markets is key to the success of all businesses.  Trade coupled with access to finance and prudent management skills builds a lasting business.” ANNUAL SUMMIT
GBA SUMMIT 2009 Host: Standard Chartered Place: Singapore Dates: October 28th – 30th, 2009
SURVEY for Attendees! We want to develop a great Summit for you, so please help us by answering the following questions. Please just reply to this email with your answers to the questions below. If you have other suggestions, please feel free to  provide them as well.
Question 1.  Is there a particular topic you would like to have featured? Question 2.  Would you like to participate in a member matching session which will allow you to have in-depth discussion on a topic of your choosing? Question 3.  What is the most valuable reason for you to attend the Summit ?