Dr Burhanuddin Abdullah has been Governor of Bank Indonesia since 2003 and has been instrumental in formulating the Indonesian banking architecture, called API. Launched in January 2004, API is a long-term blueprint for the Indonesian banking industry. Since API’s introduction, Bank Indonesia has initiated programmes and facilitated improvements for the Indonesian banking industry to operate prudently and to step in tune with international standards. In view of global developments in banking, API programmes have been geared towards consolidation of the banking system, long-term development of Syariah banking, expansion in financing for small, medium and micro enterprises and the institutional strengthening of rural banks.

Dr Burhanuddin’s last position before his appointment as Governor was Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs in 2001. He was also Chairman of the powerful Islamic Financial Services Board in 2004 and was a fixed-term staff at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. Dr Burhanuddin’s vision for national development are well-regarded in Indonesia and he has written two books on the subject: “The Road to Stability: Achieving a Sustainable Development” and “Waiting for the Nation’s Prosperity”.

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Mr Paul Keating is one of the greatest Australian political leaders. His continued high international standing reflects his political and social achievements, his knowledge of world affairs and the close contact that he maintains with national leaders and former leaders. Mr Keating was Prime Minister of Australia from 1991-1996 and Treasurer (Finance Minister) from 1983-1991.

During his time in office, Mr Keating led several significant reforms that continue to affect both the Asia Pacific region and Australia today. His most renowned achievement as Treasurer was to implement sweeping economic reforms, which included the progressive deregulation of Australia’s financial sector, the float of the Australian dollar, tax reforms, the removal of protectionist barriers and the maintenance of the Accord with the Australian trade union movement. In 1984, he was named Finance Minister of the Year by Euromoney, the financial and economic journal.

As Prime Minister, Mr Keating continued on the path of progressive reform. One of his key achievements at this time was addressing low national savings through a national superannuation scheme. He also took an active interest in Asia and focused his external policy on this region. He played an active role in establishing the powerful Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and initiated its annual leaders’ meeting, which emphasised a commitment to regional free trade. Mr Keating also developed strong bilateral links with Australia’s neighbours, particularly Indonesia.

Today, as a political observer, he contributes articles to newspapers and international journals that discuss international, economic and social issues and maintains a keen interest in policy areas with which he was involved in government. His book, Engagement: Australia Faces the Asia-Pacific, examines Australia’s foreign policy objectives and achievements during his term as Prime Minister and was published in March 2000. It has been translated into Japanese and Chinese.

Mr Keating remains a frequent visitor to China and the Asian region, and he will be in Jakarta in March to deliver a keynote address to the decision makers in global financial services gathered at The Asian Banker Summit.

Drawing upon his extensive experience, we ask Mr Keating to provide a perspective on the significant developments in the world of financial services today and to identify five or six key challenges he thinks are facing the industry currently. What guiding principles did he use for modernising the Australian financial services industry during the 1980s and what can we learn from that experience? We also ask Mr Keating to discuss what he thinks are key themes in the next phase of development in the Asia Pacific region and how banks should respond to these developments.

As an engaging and thought-provoking speaker with a gift for understanding the Asia Pacific region, Mr Keating’s keynote on 26 March will provide thought leadership of a very high order.

As the chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision until recently, Mr Jaime Caruana earned the reputation as the person who changed the world of banking by pushing through the passage of Basel II. The risk-based supervisory approach has had and continues to create profound changes in the way banks work worldwide.

Currently, Mr Caruana is Counsellor to the Managing Director and Director of a newly established department of the International Monetary Fund, the Monetary and Capital Markets Department, which is responsible for all aspects of the Fund's financial, capital market, and monetary work. Prior to assuming this position, Mr Caruana was the Governor of the Banco de España, Spain's central bank.

In his previous capacity, he was also serving on the Governing Council of the European Central Bank and was a member of the Financial Stability Forum. Prior to joining the Banco de España, Mr Caruana served as Director of the Spanish Treasury and headed investment services and fund management companies for nearly 10 years.

In his keynote to the Summit in Jakarta, Mr Caruana will be discussing new directions for the banking industry in Asia as well as worldwide, as the result of a confluence of factors in the capital markets, monetary policies, emerging supervisory approaches and other critical global developments.

Sir Brian Pitman joined Lloyds Bank in 1952 and subsequently held a number of managerial appointments in the group, including spells in continental Europe and the US. He became Chief Executive of Lloyds Bank in 1983 and Group Chief Executive of the new Lloyds TSB Group in 1995, when Lloyds Bank merged with TSB. Sir Brian was appointed Chairman of the Lloyds TSB Group in February 1997 and retired in April 2001.

He was also Chairman of NEXT plc from 1998-2002. He is currently a director of various corporations, including ITV plc, Singapore Airlines Ltd, Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, Tomkins PLC and The Carphone Warehouse Group Plc. He is also Senior Advisor to Morgan Stanley and a Governor of Ashridge Management College.

Sir Brian was President of the British Bankers Association from January 1996 to May 1997 and President of The Chartered Institute of Bankers from May 1997 to October 1998. He was Master of the Guild of International Bankers from September 2002 to September 2003.

In 1993, he was voted Financial World European Banking CEO of the Year; 1996 Times Businessman of the Year; 1998 KPMG Business Leader of the Year and was the winner of the 1999 Gold Medal of the Institute of Management.

Sir Brian was knighted for his services to banking in 1994 and is acknowledged as a legendary leader who changed the UK banking landscape. He possesses an exceptional gift for using his extensive experience to bring clarity to complex issues in financial services. At the Summit this year, he will present a keynote on risk management and corporate governance.

Mr Rob Close joined CLS in November 2000 as Chief Operating Officer and became Deputy CEO in November 2002. He was appointed to the roles above in January 2006. Before joining CLS, he was Director, Group Payments Strategy at Barclays Bank. During a 29-year period with Barclays, Mr Close had senior roles in treasury, personal sector marketing, electronic banking and payments working both in line and group roles.

While at Barclays, Mr Close was part-time Programme Director for the G20 until mid 1997 and was responsible for establishing the Business Requirements Specification that led to the CLS Bank service. He was awarded the OBE for services relating to the Euro.

Mr Paul Burstein is Managing Director of Strategic Initiatives at GE Corporate Treasury. In this capacity, he is responsible for the business development, implementation, operations and support of a number of GE’s global treasury systems, including a Web-based funds transfer and treasury workstation and the electronic interfaces to GE’s banking partners and GE businesses.

He has been with GE for 30 years, the last 16 years being in cash management and operations services. He had 29 years of experience in IT before moving six years ago to the business side of operations services.

Widely acknowledged as an “elder statesman” to the financial industry, Mr. Bill Seidman has provided invaluable counsel to Asian banks, regulatory authorities and asset management companies since the 1990s, when his experience was indispensable during the Asian crisis. This year, Mr. Seidman, who has been participating in the Summit over the last two years, lends his experience to the financial services industry as Chairman of The Asian Banker Summit Advisory Council 2007-2008.

Although he has played a wide variety of roles in public administration, business and academia, Mr. Seidman is most renowned for his role as the first chairman of the Resolution & Trust Corp (RTC), which was established to resolve the US’s savings-and-loans (S&L) crisis of the 1980s. Under his direction, the RTC handled thousands of failed banks and S&Ls. During the Asian economic crisis of the 1990s, many Asian financial institutions and governments looked to Mr. Seidman for guidance on managing the region’s collapsing banking systems.

Mr. Seidman also served as chairman of the powerful Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and was President Ronald Reagan’s co-chair of the White House Conference on Productivity in the 1980s. In the 1970s, Mr. Seidman was assistant to President Gerald Ford for US economic affairs.

Today, Mr. Seidman remains an influential figure in corporate boardrooms and in the media. As the chief commentator on CNBC, he regularly gives his intrepid views on the economy, corporate action and investing. He sits on the board of various corporations such as GMAC Commercial Mortgage and GMAC Bank; and several others. He is also a consultant to the Deposit Corporation of Japan, Morgan Stanley in Asia, the World Bank, Freddie Mac, and various other institutions. He is also the publisher of Bank Director magazine and founder of the Board Member magazine. He is, in the words of Kenneth Guenther, a former senior official at the Federal Reserve Board, “a national treasure”.

Formerly a consultant to the United Nations on risk management for catastrophe risk assessment, Mr David Piesse has spent 30 years in various risk management, insurance and IT capacities in financial institutions and government agencies. In his current position as Head of Insurance at SUN Microsystems, Mr David Piesse is responsible for the firm’s insurance solution strategy worldwide. He is also in charge of distribution channel solutions including Islamic products, bancassurance and microfinance. In his current role, he specialises in the confluence of banking, insurance and capital markets, within the context of risk transfer and risk management. Over the last three decades, Mr Piesse has been a practitioner in the insurance field in the London market as well as the North America and Asia Pacific regions. He specialises in combining insurance domain knowledge with IT and risk management. At the 2007 Summit, Mr Piesse will be at the Closing Keynote to present case studies and ideas on capital market tools for risk management. At the Forum on Microfinance, he will be presenting ideas on delivering low-cost microfinance services to rural and previously unbanked markets.

Mr Daniel Latimore has 20 years of experience in the financial services industry with a specialisation in developing intellectual capital that can be used by a wide array of institutions. As Executive Director of IBM’s Institute for Business Value, he serves as Research Director, leads the Americas practice, and oversees the firm’s Financial Services practice.  Mr Latimore, who has a CFA qualification, has authored dozens of strategy studies with a focus on developing relevant, actionable recommendations that consider the strengths and limitations of institutions considering how to use technology to improve business value. His expertise in financial analysis and framework development, and his broad experience across all lines of financial services, has led to ongoing relationships with more than 40 clients.

Before his appointment at IBM, Mr Latimore was a senior executive of Mainspring, a boutique strategy consulting firm, where he led the effort to develop a new way of delivering consulting insights to clients in a speedy, cost-efficient way.

He rose to become Vice President in the International Private Placements Group. For three years he worked in the London office, and also spent two years each in Tokyo and New York. At the Summit, Mr Latimore will be at The CEO Dialogues to present ideas on the bank of the future.

Mr Christian Goeckenjan is Vice President in SAP’s Financial Services Business Unit, responsible for sales support teams globally. He is also responsible for the global execution of the strategic alliance with Accenture in financial services. He joined SAP in 1997 and has held various positions in the banking unit, including product management for SAP’s Banking Risk Applications and head of the European banking go-to-market programme, a two-year initiative aimed at increasing SAP’s footprint in the European banks. Prior to joining SAP, he worked as a financial engineer at Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie., a German private investment bank, and as business development manager for a full outsourcer of Internet banking.