Filipino wins ING business leadership award

A Filipino banker based in Singapore has won the 2003 ING Business Award for Leadership in a worldwide competition.

Renato T. de Guzman, CEO of ING Private Banking in Asia, won the leadership award in the competition which had 120 candidates from across every region and management center of the multinational bank.

The ING Business Award was launched by the executive board of ING in Amsterdam to reward people in the bank who make business excellence a habit within their own business unit. It aims to share and reward best practices within the ING Group and to recognize top-notch performance in six key areas: Revenue growth, client focus, synergy, cost reduction, leadership and branding.

According to Angelien Kemma, chairperson for the leadership category of the award, "In the current harsh economic environment, true leadership is required to realize ING’s ambitions and targets. De Guzman showed true leadership by personally leading the troops, striving for realizing results and showing true compassion and dedication throughout the organization."

De Guzman has been credited with transforming in just two years loosely organized private banking units of ING across several countries in Asia, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Banque Bruxelles Lambert, into a "profitable, coherent organization that can stand up against a number of established competitors."

The jury for the award said, "Considering the cultural differences throughout the Asian region, the difficult market situation for private banking, and the different organizational backgrounds of all concerned, this was a significant achievement.

De Guzman said the credit belongs to the entire private banking team in Asia. He said "their dedication in delivering superior service and financial returns to our clients in very difficult markets has paid off and is being recognized by the entire organization."

Before becoming CEO of ING Private Banking in Asia in 2000, De Guzman was ING country head in the Philippines for 10 years. During his stint as country head, ING Bank received the Best Foreign Bank award from Euromoney magazine for four consecutive years.