B2B Asia News sat down with Sreypoch Heng, Compliance Director at Wing Bank, to discuss compliance in the banking sector, and to learn more about her role at Wing Bank.
B2B Asia News: Before we get into your professional background, can you tell us a little bit about the core values and family influences that impacted you growing up and shaped who you are today?
Sreypoch Heng: “I came from just a [lower-middle-class] family. My mom is a housewife, so she was financially dependent on her husband. She was the one who always told me that you have to be financially independent. And because she is a Buddhist, our family had one principle: you get what you do. You have to be humble, you cannot look down on people, things like that. Those were the principals in my family that have been passed down through generations, from my grandma as well."
B2B Asia News: Did you always envision yourself working in finance or in corporate governance?
Sreypoch Heng: “I was a girl who had plans. I liked myself a lot in high school, and back then I was someone who planned a lot. At the time, I planned to be a [radio] DJ, a job which I thought would be for society. Then I joined BBC World Service Trust, where I was a radio producer. It was a part time job while I studied for my bachelor's degree at university. Then maybe around year three of university, I was very lucky to receive an offer at a bank as a management trainee, which was really my dream job.”
B2B Asia News: What was your first impression of the banking industry? What was the risk management space like back then?
Sreypoch Heng: “Risk management, 15 years back, no one knew about it. No one knew compliance meant. I started first as a management trainee, and I was very privileged that my boss let me then switch to a different department where I learned about each function of the bank. I questioned for days about how the process worked, why I, myself, did certain things in my role. I realised that there are certain functions at the bank dedicated to identifying loopholes in every process. So, I requested my boss to move to that department, which is how I got started in risk management. If things go wrong, you have to understand where the control is, what is the residual risk. You have to understand that there is risk, there is control, and not one person can do it alone.”
B2B Asia News: Can you share or explain how compliance in banking impacts customers? How does compliance protect their daily banking activities?
Sreypoch Heng: “Think of it this way. Why do you drive fast? When you drive a car, you drive fast because you have a brake. You press the brake pedal so you can slow down, stop and make a turn. That is actually how compliance functions. We know ahead of time that if you do one thing a certain way, it falls under a particular regulation. So it informs you ahead where you can and cannot go. Why we have regulations is because it concerns the protection of our people, our depositors and our borrowers.”
B2B Asia News: What challenges have you faced in your position as compliance director?
Sreypoch Heng: “There are really a lot of challenges in this position because from default, compliance is an independent function. People feel like they cannot ask for your advice on whether they can do something or not. From their perspective, they think the compliance department will just always say no. But for myself, I try to understand and listen to our colleagues first, what they really want to achieve and what they are able to do under the regulation. For this, we also have to be able to explain to them the risk, why we cannot do something and if there is any feasibility to do something another way as well. You cannot just tell a person no. You have to have the reference. You have to be strong, reliable and knowledgeable. You have to understand all the regulations to be able to respond to every inquiry, and be able to make the right linkages from one to another.”
B2B Asia News: What can financial institutions do to make the environment more welcoming for women?
Sreypoch Heng: "When you think of finance, you may think that women are the ones who think prudentially in terms of saving or spending. So, at the front line, you may see more female staff. But when we compare to the middle management and senior management level, you see less female staff. This is because when women are at the middle age, they are often busy taking care of their kids and have to drop their careers to take care of their family. That's one of the things that can happen in our society.
“For women and girls, I would say that you have to set a target, a goal to do whatever you want. For myself, I never imagined that I could sit at the big corporate table like this and be part of a larger movement in a bank. Unexpectedly, your momentum, your commitment, can keep you on the right path, especially if you have discipline.”
B2B Asia News: For young Cambodian women who aspire to work in finance and may be watching this, what main advice would you share?
Sreypoch Heng: “To all young woman, you have to be clear and confident in yourself. If you set your goal for something you want to do, stay disciplined along the way and the outcome should be great."