The retired Chairman of the board of directors and former CEO of Wells Fargo & Company
Mr Kovacevich has pushed many controversial views as a Retail Banking legend. During the government bailout Mr. Kovacevich hit out at TARP, he objected as his bank had avoided the mortgage-related woes of its Wall Street rivals.
He engineered Norwest's growth through numerous mergers, expanding into businesses outside of traditional banking. He has often described the $31 billion Wells transaction as "a merger of equals," not an acquisition.
The success and huge growth following the merger of Norwest and Wells Fargo was the ability to cross sell. This integrated cross-sell strategy was the ability to market products to existing customers and was the key to their success.
Governor of the Bank of Thailand
Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul has been appointed on October 1st, 2010 to be the 22nd Governor of the Bank of Thailand, the country’s Central Bank. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Prasarn has worked in the top positions of a number of public and private organizations, including the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand and Kasikornbank Pcl.
After graduated with a First-Class honours from the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University in 1974, followed immediately by a Master’s Degree in Engineering at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), he won the Ananda Mahidol Scholarship to pursue his M.B.A. and Doctorate degree in Business Administration at Harvard University (1976-1981).
After a two-year stint as a research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC, he returned to Thailand to start his career at the Department of Economic Research, Bank of Thailand and later in the Department of Bank Supervision and Examination until 1992. Shortly thereafter, he became the Secretary-General at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand, the sole agency responsible for capital market surveillance, regulation and capital market development.
In 2010, he was nominated and elected as Chairman of Thai Bankers' Association (TBA), gaining his extensive experiences in banking businesses and financial markets before rejoining the Bank of Thailand.
In September 2011 during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, he was awarded the “Central Bank Governor of the Year for Asia 2011 Award” from Emerging Markets magazine, recognizing his strong policy track record and steadfast commitment to maintaining economic stability.
Chairman of the Thai Bankers' Association and President Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited
Chartsiri Sophonpanichis the President and Director of Bangkok Bank, the largest commercial bank in Thailand. Under his leadership the bank has expanded to over 16 million account holders, 1,000 branches with more than 20 overseas branches including those of fully owned subsidiaries in China and Malaysia.
Mr Chartsiri held the position previously from 2002-2005 his appointment then as the 18th Chairman of the association was assured to his testament then DBS Thai Danu president Pornsanong Tuchinda confirmed "There's no need to vote. There is no other suitable candidate. He [Chartsiri] is fitted by his own qualifications."
Mr Chartsiri Sophonpanich comes from a tradition of strong leadership as his farther Mr. Chatri Sophonpanich was also Chairman of the Thai Banker's Association from 1986-1988 and Bangkok bank though the 'Golden Period' as he introduce the policy of 'the quality bank' and the first online network to the country.
Mr Chartsiri gained extensive experience at both operational and managerial levels in various departments at Bangkok Bank including Foreign Exchange Trading, Marketing, Treasury, Investment Banking Group and International Banking Group before being appointed President on December 1, 1994.
