May Tan

In 2014, May Tan became the first female CEO of Standard Charted Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (“SCBHK”) in the bank’s 150-year history. Before retiring in 2017, she founded and championed the bank’s Women’s Network and served as its global sponsor for D&I. Prior to joining SCBHK, she served as the CEO of Cazenove Asia and was the first female partner at Cazenove and Co’s then 175-year history.

Since retiring in 2017, May has focused on board and leadership positions: she currently serves on the Board of CLP Holdings, Manulife Financial and JP Morgan China Income and Growth PLC. She has also served on the HSBC Insurance Board and the Link Asset Management Board. She has been a member of the Advisory Council of the Malaysian Chamber since 2019 and started the Women’s Network at the chamber in 2020.

Over the past 20 years, May has also made significant contributions to Hong Kong through numerous public roles. In 2016, she was the Chairperson of the Hong Kong Association of Banks, and Director of the Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Limited. In the same year, she was a member of the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee Sub-committee on Currency Board Operations of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and a member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

May is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. May received two awards from the American Chamber in HK: firstly “Woman Professional of the Year” award in 2015 and “Woman on Board of the Year” in 2020. In 2023, she was named a “Women of Our Time” by the South China Morning Post 2023. May is the co-founder of ACcelerate, a leadership program which was founded with the core purpose of bridging the gap in senior female representation at the C-suite and accelerate the progression of female talent to senior leadership roles