Since coming aboard as AICB’s Chief Executive, I am proud of the work the Institute has accomplished and am excited about many new initiatives we have planned for the coming year.

It has been an enjoyable experience working on this issue of Banking Insight and the editorial team’s carefully curated insights captured through this and our previous issues are snapshots of the complexity and innovation Asian banking has undergone over decades, from special coverage on critical points in banking to predicting what’s next on the horizon of finance. We will continue to delight our readers, spark an interest in all things banking and expand into new territories critical to the development of banking talent.

We mark this issue with a milestone: the addition of a new Well-being segment that will cover issues related to mental and physical health, reflecting the needs of today’s professionals. Our inaugural article in this segment, Mending the Pandemic Brain, is symbolic of the importance we must place on not just outward extrinsic values, but the intrinsic values and voice within – empathy, compassion, kindness. I have no doubt that this is the support that teams need to bounce back better and stronger in the next normal.

Such leitmotif is echoed by financial leaders in our midst, including our exclusive interview with Fad’l Mohamed, CB, CEO of Maybank Investment Bank Berhad. His wide-ranging experience, sharp acumen, and commitment to sustainable finance exemplifies the mind shift that is occurring at the core of finance.

In a hyperconnected world, our ability to distinguish between noise and information is put to the test every day. This issue’s cover story, Move Along, Goldilocks, calls out hype in financial reporting, sheds light on separating the wheat from the chaff, and impresses upon us the strategic imperative of cultivating amongst us Corporate Cassandras, people whose warnings of impending disasters are often dismissed simply because they do not fit into the mainstream narrative.

The need to future-proof our sector relies on our ability to innovate within innovation itself. For well-embedded Agile teams, already a staple at major Asian banks, teams must live up to its philosophy and mantra that ‘change is the only constant’ if they are to stay ahead of the curve. In Agile Must Evolve or Die, we push the boundaries of what this entails in order to future-proof banking.

As cybercriminals train their sights on cyber insurers, banks – who are increasingly subscribing to cyber insurance as a tool to hedge against security breaches – are caught in the cross hairs. In Combating the Ransomware Onslaught, Ray Irving, Managing Director of Global Business Services, at the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, shares pragmatic steps on how banks can mitigate third-party risk and avoid becoming a victim of ransomware.

Bob Souster, whose feature Can the Oldest Ethical Theory Hold Lessons for Us Today? charts the history and comeback of virtue ethics into the mainstream, illustrates the rigour he brings with him as module director for the Chartered Banker MBA programme at Bangor University Business School.

And most of all, we dedicate this issue to the men and women who’ve kept the engines of finance running these 24 months under unprecedented circumstance. We raise a glass to you. Salut!

The Editor