The founder and retired chairman of Malaysia’s second-largest bank, Teh Hong Piow, died peacefully on Monday morning on the age of 92.
Public Bank Group called his departure a “great loss” for the corporate.
“On behalf of the board of directors, management and staff of the Public Bank Group, we express our sincerest condolences and deepest sympathies to the Teha family,” Public Bank said in an announcement.
Teh was born on March 14, 1930 in Singapore, and attended the Anglo Chinese School for his formal primary and secondary education there, in accordance with a biographical note on the Public Bank website.
He married Puan Seri Tay Sock Noy in 1956 they usually had 4 children.
At press time, Public Bank shares were down 4 sen to 4.36 ringgit. The bank is the second-largest company listed on Bursa Malaysia, with a market capitalization of 85 billion ringgit ($26.11 billion).
Teh began his banking profession in 1950 and had 72 years of experience within the banking and finance industry.
He began working as a bank clerk on the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation in 1950 and was promoted to officer inside five years.
In 1960, he joined Malayan Banking as a manager. In 1964, on the age of 34, he was promoted to the position of general manager.
Teh left Malayan Banking in 1966 to found Public Bank. Since then, he has supervised its evolution into a contemporary and integrated financial institution with a large network of 265 domestic and two foreign branches.
On August 6, 1966, Public Bank began operations with its first branch positioned in Jalan Gereja, Kuala Lumpur.
Public Bank was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (now Bursa Malaysia) on April 6, 1967.
