Governance

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Claude FALGON

Chairman

Claude Falgon is the founder and was, until June 2017, the CEO of the Advans Group. Currently he is a Member of the Board of Advans SA SICAR and chairs several affiliates of the Advans Group. He has served as a director since August 2001 and as chairman of the Board of Directors since February 2005. He is a member of the Audit Committee and of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. He holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University, USA, a post-doctorate in management science from ICG Paris, France, and a master’s degree in agricultural economics from INA Paris, France.

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Estelle DARIE ROUSSEAUX

Board Member

Estelle was appointed to the board in August 2017 and joined Amret as executive director in January 2018, where she is currently leading the implementation of the strategic plan. She was previously the deputy chief operations officer for the Advans Group where she was driving key digital and rural finance activities in the group, as head of financial services. Estelle started her career in rural development and economics in 2000, before jumping in microfinance in 2003 as a field officer for a SME finance downscaling program in Romania, before joining Advans International, formerly Horus Development Finance, as a senior consultant in 2004. Between various assignments for the Advans group headquarters supporting the development of greenfield microfinance institutions, she was chief operations officer for Advans Ghana Savings and Loans, and then in 2013 took up the role of deputy chief executive officer for Advans Bank Tanzania (now Letshego Bank [T]). Estelle holds a master’s degree in agricultural engineering, specializing in agricultural economics, from the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon, France.

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Steven DUCHATELLE

Board Member

Steven was appointed to the Board of Directors in August 2017 and is the chairman of the Risk Oversight Committee. He is an experienced international senior finance executive, and currently holds the position of CEO of the Advans Group. His career in financial services spans 25 years, including 20 years in microfinance. Through various positions in global financial institutions and consulting firms, Steven has gained solid practical knowledge of both retail banking and microfinance operations from different perspectives: strategy, governance, operations, business development, organization, internal control, and risk management. He is chairman of the board of several Advans affiliates. He holds a master’s degree in general management, majoring in finance, from HEC School of Management, the leading graduate school of management in France.

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Antoin BRUININCKX

Board Member

Antoin was appointed to the Board of Directors as an independent member in November 2020. He is chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Risk Oversight Committee and Nomination and Remuneration Committee. He studied business economics at the University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Antoin has extensive experience in international banking, having worked in Australia, Vietnam, the US and the Netherlands in various managerial roles with a focus on structured finance, risk, portfolio management and treasury. From 2003 to 2006 he was the Managing Director of ABN AMRO Bank N.V., responsible for the institution’s European credit portfolio and a member of its principal credit committee. Since 2007 he has been active as an entrepreneur and has been applying his experience in consultancy and non-executive roles after selling his consultancy business. He has served on boards of various microfinance institutions across Asia.

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SONG Saran

Board Member

Saran was appointed to the Board of Directors in July 2021. He is the Co-founder & CEO of AmruRice Co Ltd- one of the largest rice millers and exporters in Cambodia, working with over 100 cooperatives and over 10,000 farmers, more than 60% of whom are women. The company has grown its rice exports to over 450,000 tons from 2011 to 2020. Saran has attended multiple local and international programs and has won many awards, including the Country SME Innovation Award; Agrow Award; Young Entrepreneur Award” by Asean Business Council in Singapore in 2018; ASEAN Leadership Awarded by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) in 2019 in Shanghai; the “Young Takeda Entrepreneur Award” by the Takeda Foundation, Tokyo University in 2016; and the “Gold Medal on Entrepreneurship Award” by McKinsey & Company in 2006. Saran holds a BBA and Master’s Degree of Business Administration from the National University of Management, Cambodia and is currently a PhD candidate in Economic Science at the Royal Academy of Cambodia.

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Oluwatobi AKINJOGUNLA

Board Member

Oluwatobi was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors as in May 2022. She is a member of the Audit Committee and of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee. She is a Fintech and Digital Transformation expert who guides companies to increase efficiency, revenue growth and sustained profitability by identifying optimal business models and focused attention on risk management. She is the creator and pioneer lead of the Verve Payment Card, the largest domestic card scheme in Africa, issued over 52 million cards and accepted in over 185 countries across the globe. Her over 20 years of experience in Fintech, Banking and Finance industry spans across Card Payment, financial inclusion, mobile money, micro finance, retail banking, electronic banking having worked in various senior roles specializing in digital transformation, business strategy and business model innovation. She is an alumna of Harvard Business School USA, holds a master’s degree in strategic marketing from Cranfield University UK and Bachelor of science degree in economics at the Ogun state University, Nigeria.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee is established and chaired by an independent non-executive board member. Its mission is to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of internal audit tasks and the internal control system, and the adequacy of reporting and decision tools.

The Audit Committee comprises two non-executive board members:

Antoin BRUININCKX

Chairperson

Claude FALGON

Member


​​​​​​​The committee meets at least four times a year, and otherwise as required. The duties of the committee are to review internal and external audit functions, monitor the integrity of financial statements, ensure compliance with internal policies, laws and regulations, and review risk management and internal controls in order to provide recommendations for improvement.

Internal Audit Department

The IAD is independent of all Amret’s operations and reports directly to the Audit Committee. Its vision is to be recognized as a professional internal audit body that provides value-added recommendations to management and trusted consultation to the Board. Its mission is to provide professional and independent appraisals of Amret’s activities in order to add value by improving operational efficiency and effectiveness, monitoring internal control systems, and ensuring compliance with policies, laws and regulations.

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DOS Dinn

Chief Executive Officer

Dinn was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer in January 2019. His career at Amret started in 1996 as supervisor of provincial office. He transferred to the Product Development Unit two years later and progressed through the company to become operations manager in 1999 and then chief operations officer from 2008-2011. He was appointed as Deputy Chief Executive Officer in February 2011 before appointed as CEO. Dinn holds an MBA from the Utara University of Malaysia (UUM), and a bachelor’s degree from the Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia.

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LIM Sopha

Chief Operation Officer

Sopha was appointed as Chief Operations Officer in 2022. She is leading Business Operations and Legal &Compliance Department-taking key responsibility in designing, implementing, and monitoring sound (limited operational risk) and efficient business processes with the objectives to maximize productivity, staff, and Client experience. She is also currently served as Interim Chief Finance Officer. She started her career as Provincial Supervisor to Chief Accountant and then to Head of Finance, before changing career directions in 2012 to the Human Resources division. She was promoted to Chief Human Resources Officer in 2016. She has a great mix of experiences in various leadership and management roles with the company for more than 24 years and is passionate about empowering people to realize their potential and achieve their goals. She holds an MBA from Charles Sturt University, Australia, and a BA in Entrepreneurship from the Faculty of Economics and Science, Phnom Penh.

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Tan Youhay

Chief Sales Officer

Youhay was appointed to his current role as Chief Sale Officer in 2018. His journey at Amret start in 2000. He started working for Amret as Assistant Provincial Supervisor Kandal province. At the end of 2001, he was promoted to Provincial Supervisor of Kampot province. In early 2010, he was promoted to Head of Operations and in June 2015, he was appointed Head of Sales Credit. He graduated from Ukraine with a Master Degree of Science in Economics in 1997.

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Uch Sinat

Chief Human Resources Officer

Sinat was appointed as Chief Human Resources Officer in July 2021. Before joining Amret, Sinat served as the Country HR Director at Coca-Cola Cambodia. Sinat has more than 20 years’ experience as a human resources professional, working in several multinational companies across various sectors. He has held many positions in developing and implementing HR strategies, directions, policies, and procedures, as well as focusing on maximizing human resource utilization in achieving growth and competitiveness. Sinat holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration Management and two Bachelor’s Degrees: one in English for Business Communication from Norton University and one in Accounting from the National University of Management.

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Sos Meath

Chief Internal Audit Officer

Meath was promoted to be Chief of Internal Audit Officer in January 2019. He has worked at Amret for more than 17 years. He first joined Amret as Junior Internal Auditor in 2003 and pursued various roles such as Senior Internal Auditor (2004), Financial Audit Unit Manager (2007), Deputy Head of Internal Audit (2008), and Head of Internal Audit (2011). Meath holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the National University of Management (NUM) and an MBA from Build Bright University (BBU).

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Sajjad Khan

Chief Information Officer

Sajjad joined Amret in June 2019 and has been driving the digital transformation program with solutions focused on growth, productivity, innovation, governance, and cyber security. Sajjad has extensive international experience in the financial services sector having spent 17 years with GE Capital in various leadership roles. Prior to joining Amret, he worked as an executive consultant with several private and public sector organizations on business growth and transformation initiatives. Sajjad holds a BSc in Business Management, MSc in Computer Science, Executive MBA and in the process of completing his part time Doctorate.

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MAK Vichet

Chief Risk Officer

Vichet was appointed Chief Risk Officer in April 2021. He has been at Amret for 15 years, moving across functions including Economic Analyst, Project Management, Product development, Sales and then Risk Management. He holds an MBA from Kun Shan University, Taiwan and a BA in Economics from the Royal University of Law and Economics.

Chairman’s Message


Amret was able to respond very quickly when the pandemic hit in early 2020 thanks to close cooperation between the Board and management. Board members were kept directly informed of the events during the height of the pandemic and Board and Management were able to quickly agree on some clear priorities during this time. First and foremost, the safety of our staff and clients was essential, so specific measures were implemented to restrict contact between staff and clients, raise awareness on protective measures, and where possible enable staff to work from home. With disruptions in value chains and movements and the overall slowdown of the economy, many of our clients were plunged into financial difficulties because of the crisis. Amret looked to offer them more flexible repayment conditions, with an active policy to offer grace periods to the most vulnerable clients. We also implemented cautious policies on loan disbursements and reduced growth objectives on the loan portfolio to diminish risk for our clients and for the company. Amret focused on maintaining a responsible stance in the market, concentrating on supporting its current clients and responding to their needs during the crisis.

The institution also worked on maintaining strong liquidity buffers. Amret informed its financial partners of its situation at a very early stage, before they were aware of the magnitude of the crisis, and received full support from its financial partners, lenders, and shareholders. This has put Amret in a strong financial position.

These decisions resulted in a relatively successful year for the institution, despite the difficult circumstances. Amret was able to protect its staff and clients from the crisis, offering clients additional support where necessary. Thanks to a cautious approach, credit risk remained stable and Amret continued to maintain its stance as a leading responsible player in the industry. We were also able to control our expenses without cutting investment in digitalization for the future. Although Amret’s financial performance was certainly not what would be expected in a normal year, performance remained strong thanks to judicious management of the situation, ensuring capitalization ratios and providing comfort to lenders.

We made the important decision to maintain the momentum on our strategic Amret + project which was confirmed as necessary to reinforce Amret’s position on the market in the long term. The project became even more relevant considering the importance of digitalisation during the crisis and is essential for the company’s future growth. Amret continued to invest each of the four strategic pillars of the programme client, product, people, process and technology over the year. The institution will now look to further enhance its strategic digital priorities to take it to another new level to support business growth, client centricity, efficiency, data quality and better risk management.

Amret can look back on this exceptional year as one of extraordinary achievements. The good performance of the institution during the worst economic crisis since its creation can be credited to the fact that the management, Board and shareholders are aligned and focused on the same priorities. These include providing tailored services to MSMEs and low and middle-income populations, to enable them to grow, while ensuring that Amret maintains responsible lending practices as well as promoting an inspiring model of management to guarantee staff commitment to Amret’s mission and vision and using technology to improve efficiency and the customer experience.

To conclude, I would like to thank and congratulate all staff and management for their commitment and performance during the year. I would also like to thank to my fellow board members and Advans group staff for their time invested in supporting the management during the crisis. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to shareholders for their understanding and financial support.

​​​​​​​Looking forward to its 30th anniversary in 2021, Amret can be proud of its journey and status today as a strong and stable institution devoted to serving its clients responsibly.

Claude FALGON
Chairman, Amret