Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek is the managing director and chief executive officer of Public Bank Berhad, one of the largest and top performing banks in Southeast Asia. A veteran in the financial services industry with 60 years of experience, Tay has seen the company through unprecedented challenges including the Asian financial crisis and more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic to be one of the few banks to show steady performance and profitability. In 2019, Public Bank was the only Malaysian financial institution to be listed in Forbes Asia’s Best Over A Billion list for being one of the top-performing companies with revenues of over USD1 billion.

A pioneer staff who joined Public Bank in 1966, Tay held several positions over the years including executive vice president and executive director before he was appointed managing director in 2002. The chartered banker who holds an MBA also has directorship in several companies within the Public Bank Group. He is a fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, the Institute of Bankers Malaysia, the Malaysian Institute of Management and Chartered Banker of the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB).