director, consumer banking at Standard Chartered, gave a stirring
acceptance speech after picking up RBI’s Retail Banker of
the Year award at the recent International Retail Banking Awards
(see A night of excellence), calling consumer
banking “the back-bone of the financial services
industry”.
In a wide-ranging address, he spoke about the big issues facing the
industry over the next three years and the role retail banking had
to play amid the market turmoil. DeNoma, 52, born in the US and now
based in Singapore, said the financial services industry faced its
biggest challenge in 70 years, and that retail bankers would be the
ones holding the centre-ground. He said: “I love being a consumer
banker. I love it because it’s difficult. I love it because it’s
hard work. I love it because it matters: consumer banks are the
constant companion through people’s lives. I love it because it is
not part of the investment bank bonus pool. And I love it because
there is so much left to be done.
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“There is no industry in the world that is this large, that matters
this much, with so much left undone – not just from a technology
standpoint, but in putting emotional connection and humanity back
into banking. And it has gone. But we can put it back.”
He added: “I think I should accept this award most of all on behalf
of all consumer bankers at Standard Chartered. And maybe even
perhaps on behalf of you, consumer bankers that I think provide the
backbone to the financial service industries in our
countries.”
DeNoma has been with Standard Chartered since 1999 and has overseen
significant growth within the bank’s consumer finance division.
Operating profit increased from $700 million to $1.68 billion
between 2003 and 2007, with notably strong results last year when
many of StanChart’s peers struggled. And DeNoma believes good
retail banking will be the key for banks trying to navigate through
the turmoil in world financial markets.
He said: “I think the industry over the next three years faces a
most difficult time. It’s very dangerous times out there. I think
consumer banks and consumer bankers are going to have to hold the
centre. That means we all have to turn and face the wind; we’re
going to become much better bankers.
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By GlobalData“We’re going to have to develop deep roots and deeper talents. And
I think we’re going to have to do that because we owe it to
ourselves, we owe it to our families and we owe it to our
institutions.”
DeNoma, married with six children, was chairman at Asia Foods, a
food technology group, before he joined the UK-headquartered but
Asia-focused banking group. Other roles include chief operating and
marketing officer at Hutchison Whampoa, the Hong Kong-based
conglomerate, and senior vice president for marketing and sales at
Citibank in Asia. He has a BA from Ohio University and an MBA from
Wharton Business School.
Outside work, the term ‘sports enthusiast’ does not quite seem to
do DeNoma justice. He ran and cycled a staggering 763 miles
(1,228km) between 2005 and 2006 to raise money for various
charities, including Race4innocence, a campaign against child
pornography, which he helped set up.
That involved four marathons in the space of four months (the
Greatest Race on Earth, sponsored by Standard Chartered), as well
as the Marathon des Sables, a six-day 151-mile foot race in the
Sahara Desert, and a 508-mile bike ride through the world’s hottest
place, Death Valley in the US. He has also raised money for some of
Standard Chartered’s other initiatives, including Seeing is
Believing, a project to cure blindness in the developing world
(see RBI 589).
Beat that, if you can.
