Welcome Address
Ms Michon Schenck, Chief Operating Officer, Financial Insights

Opening Keynote Address
Dr Chim Tantiyaswasdikul, Head of Information Technology Group/Assistant Governor, Bank of Thailand

Plenary Session: What is the Business Value of IT? Developing a Business-Aligned IT Strategy
Bill Bradway, Financial Insights' Banking Practice Head delivers a plenary presentation that will put into perspective the realities faced by banking executives as they make decisions on critical IT investments. What pressure points are faced by key decision-makers in aligning technology strategies with business imperatives? How should banks recognize the real business value of technologies being implemented in their organizations?

This session also discusses emerging best practices in performance management, branch automation and real-time advice that indicate how the industry as a whole is making technology a driver for competitive advantage.

Presenter: Mr Bill Bradway, Group Vice President-Banking Practice, Financial Insights

Plenary Session: Build it or Buy it?: Reviewing IT Investment Strategies
Session Hosted by SAP

This panel explores the difficult decision banks face on whether to build or buy key elements of their IT infrastructure. Passionate advocates exist on both sides of the debate and both can claim clear successes. Our distinguished panelists, moderated by Financial Insights' own Bill Bradway, will explore both strategies and discuss their relevance in today's banking environment. This promises to be an exciting and thought provoking session.

Panelists:
Mr Steve Shipley, Vice President-Financial Services APA/AP, SAP Australia      
Mr Klaar de Graaf, Chairman of the Management Board, Postbank Systems AG
Mr Malcolm Gray, Senior Executive-Information Technology, HSBC
Mr Oon Wee Jong, Executive Vice President/Chief Information Officer, Maybank Group

In this presentation, Financial Insights identifies the top ten strategic initiatives for banks in Asia in 2006. These initiatives span both retail and corporate banking and highlight the growing convergence of IT and line of business issues. We describe these initiatives and explain why they will have an impact on both financial institutions and the firms that service them.

From these initiatives, banks can benchmark themselves against their regional peers and gain insight into the investments necessary to transform into viable, market-leading institutions. 

Post-Core Banking Replacement: Are You Maximizing Its Potential?
Thought Leader Session: Silverlake

Several banks in the region are coming out of arduous and expensive core banking system projects, and realize that they still need to push further and harder to bring significant technology capabilities to their organizations. A good core banking system is just a foundation. Effectively maximized, this foundation is a powerful force to win over competition. Indeed, there is no rest for the CBS-weary. 

Presenting the core banking implementation experience of Indonesia's Bank Mandiri, this session revisits the core banking story of Asian banks, and talks about best practices discovered post-core banking replacement.

• What benefits are seen by banks from across the region out of their recent core banking systems? Are recent core banking systems fulfilling their promise? 
• What lessons learned from major core banking systems implementations are useful for the current phase of maximizing CBS potentials?
• What unique issues arise after a core banking system replacement?

Presenter: Mr Bambang Setiawan, Executive Vice President-Coordinator of Information and Technology and Head of Accounting Group, Bank Mandiri

Lateral Thoughts on Banking Technology

Presenter: Mr Abhishek Bhagat, Vice President-Corporate Development and Strategy (Technology and Operations), Yes Bank

Dynamic IT and the Integrated Banking Enterprise
Thought Leader Session: IBM

Presenters:
Ms Maggie Scarborough, Research Manager-Banking Practice, Financial Insights
Dr Raymond Kwong, Managing Director, Axis Systems Holdings Limited-Silverlake Group of Companies

Investing in Compliance: How Much is Enough?
Thought Leader Session: Atos Origin

Is compliance-fatigue impending among Asia's banks? In addition to Basel II and AML, Financial Insights sees growing focus on other compliance requirements. Particularly for global players, requirements related to the Patriot Act and Sarbanes-Oxley need to be met. Work also needs to expand to include global accounting standards and country-specific, tactical regulations.

This session discusses the industry's views on how the burden of compliance may in fact be becoming heavier. It is quickly pointed out however that deployment of the right technologies may make it much easier to bear.

• Why is IT an important component as part of regulatory compliance?
• How should banks move from a tick-the-box approach to compliance to building a business case for regulatory imperatives?
• How do banks balance between putting in place more controls and increasing efficiency?

Presenter: Mr Lim Eng Hong, Managing Consultant-Risk Management Consulting, Atos Origin

IT Governance in Action: Best Practices and Lessons
Thought Leader Session: Mercury

This session addresses how IT Governance has evolved to respond to the changing dynamics of the financial services sector. As risk management and compliance gain more prominence, IT governance structures are modified, and practices are enhanced. The basic ideal of managing technology effectively stays unchanged.

This session looks at the following themes:

• Why has IT governance become an especially critical discipline in the financial services industry today?
• What are the attributes of IT governance in the control, compliance and alignment of technology resources?
• What is the role that enabling technology plays in achieving effective IT governance?

Industry Trailblazer in Action: The Deutsche Bank Experience
Presenters:
Mr Damien Wong, IT Governance Director-ASEAN, Mercury
Mr Nadeem Siddiqui, Vice President-Business Management and Strategy, Deutsche Bank AG

Operational Risk Management
As the discourse on BASEL II continues, Asian banks' understanding of operational risk --- an issue thrust almost forcefully upon the industry --- becomes more and more insightful. This session discusses how banks in various markets in the Asia/Pacific region are looking differently at operational risk, reflecting differences in market development and conditions. This session mentions best practices discovered by Asian banks in their efforts to become more adept at risk management.

• What issues in operational risk have risen to prominence as BASEL II deadlines come closer? What varying approaches are being taken by different banks to resolve these issues?
• What governance guidelines are applicable to banks in different markets as they deal with operational risk issues?
• What best practices have emerged from Asia's banking leaders in meeting operational risk management requirements?

Presenter: Mr Navin Agrawal, Practice Head-Security Governance, Wipro

Financial Insights Special Session: Top 10 Initiatives in Risk Management for 2006
This Financial Insights session examines the trends in the Asia/Pacific risk management space that will shape capital and IT planning for the upcoming months, and discuss ways to use risk systems to enhance internal profitability analysis across different business units.

As IT is moving to become a driver of innovation, growth and competitive differentiation, the ability to integrate technology with business well is a critical success factor - a number of these top initiatives integrate business strategies with their technology-related projects.

Institutions that concentrate on their operational strengths, aggressively set strategies, use trusted vendor solutions to fill functionality gaps, and focus on strategy execution, will emerge as winners in 2006 even as competitors watch from the sidelines.

Plenary Session: Managing IT Like a Business
Session Hosted by HP

As technology becomes a key element to a bank's market proposition, the IT Group within financial services institutions must evolve to fulfill their ever-widening charter. The approach to managing technology needs to change considerably, putting more focus on finding the actual costs and benefits of specific technology, instilling the discipline of operational efficiency, and using performance metrics. Featuring executives from banks that continue to break ground in IT, this session will be useful to executives who want to understand the science --- and art --- of managing IT like a business.

Panelists:
Mr Liew Choon Ching, Senior Vice President-IT Services, Bumiputra Commerce Bank
Mr Denis Leadbitter, Executive Directive/Head-Client Delivery Management, Information Technology, ABN AMRO Bank
Mr Ricardo San Juan, Chief Information Officer, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
Mr Ng Kin Yee, Head of Solutions Development, Singapore Exchange

Moderator: Ms Maggie Scarborough, Research Manager-Banking Practice, Financial Insights