Challengers from as far afield as the United Kingdom and USA also place highly in runners' up positions.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct. 6, 2015 — (PRNewswire) — After a gruelling 6-month campaign, the winners of this year's Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge (MGAC) have been announced. Topping the board this year is team 'Star Wars', comprising of penultimate- and final-year students and recent graduates from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore. They will walk away with a cash prize of USD $40,000 and fast-tracked places onto the prestigious Maybank Global Apprentice Programme (GMAP), a bespoke 2-year rotating apprenticeship designed to propel promising candidates to managerial positions.

Second-placed team 'Terminator', made up of Challengers hailing from Malaysia, China, Indonesia, the Philippines and the United Kingdom received a prize of USD $20,000, while third-placed team 'X-Men' took home USD$10,000. Team 'X-Men' comprised Challengers from Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and the USA.

The Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge, which is now in its fourth year, is a multi-disciplinary talent recruitment competition open to recent graduates and final and penultimate-year students from more than 20 countries worldwide. Conceived as a way to bolster Maybank's already strong position in South-East Asia, the Challenge will ensure that Maybank continues to attract the very best in graduate talent from the world over.

Throughout the Challenge, the participants were challenged further in the national levels held across 13 countries in ASEAN region as well as Myanmar, Hong Kong, Mainland China, United States and United Kingdom before converging at the Global Finals in August 2015. The finalists were split into 10 teams of 6 Challengers, with each team assigned a series of challenges in multiple disciplines, encompassing fields of finance, stock broking, sales and even culinary and music. The dynamic Challenge tested the participants intellectually, physically, and psychologically.

The Global Finals consisted of various activities including the 'Amazing Race' and being able to give back through the different community projects that were set up in Jakarta, Indonesia and also amongst the orang asli villages in Cameron Highlands. All these activities not only tested the finalists physically and mentally but also emotionally when their efforts were put to the test. Towards the end of the Global Finals, the Challengers were given the task to raise funds for 10 different charitable organisations by trying to fit in the concept of 'selling happiness'. The finalists were split into teams of six and each team was given a small space to conceptualize the idea of selling happiness to the public along Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Maybank Group President & Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Maybank Group Head of Community Financial Services & CEO (Maybank Singapore), Datuk Lim Hong Tat and Group Chief Human Capital Officer, Puan Nora Abd Manaf presented the prizes to winners at a Gala Dinner in Kuala Lumpur marking the end of this year's challenge. Also present at the prize presentation was Maybank Group Head, Insurance and Takaful, Kamaludin Ahmad, as well as the University representatives from the region and student leaders.

Datuk Farid praised the Finalists in this year's Challenge , "With this challenge, we are also contributing to Malaysia and ASEAN's objective of bringing people together. We have created a platform to promote cross-border exposure and fertilization of ideas amongst young and aspiring talents. This also strongly supports the ability of Asia to respond to global expectations from each country's perspectives. The finalists are of excellent calibre and talent. This challenge will give them the platform to be visible beyond their network of friends, family and varsity. Through the Challenge, they have already caught the eyes of people in the region as well as their respective countries."

Nora highlighted, "This is the first student competition in the region, we know of, that tests participants in multiple disciplines, unlike others which focus on areas like marketing, or stock-broking, or finance. The Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge combines multi-disciplines reflecting how we do business, bringing the whole Bank to the customer."

"The ultimate pride of the Challenge is that 85% of the graduated finalists from previous MGACs have joined us, demonstrating Maybank's attractiveness as the employer of choice amongst top graduates from across the globe. Currently, we have finalists from Singapore, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India and Thailand in our GMAP," she added.

About the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge (MGAC)

The Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge is a multi-disciplinary business talent competition open to recent graduates and final-year university students. The Challenge is part of Maybank's aspiration to create a talent pool of world-class future business leaders and competent financial experts for the region.

Since its inauguration in 2012, the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge has increased substantially in scale, with the rate of applications doubling in each subsequent year. This year, more than 10,000 applications were received.

The Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge 2014 was open to recent graduates and final-year students in 14 countries worldwide in which Maybank has a substantial presence. This is an increase from 10 countries in 2013, with the addition of Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, and the USA.

At stake is a total prize fund of $72,000 USD, and the chance to join the prestigious Global Maybank Apprentice Programme.

About the Global Maybank Apprentice Programme (GMAP)

The Global Maybank Apprentice Programme is an award-winning, exclusive bespoke two-year mentorship and development scheme designed to nurture and train the organisation's future leaders.

The Global Maybank Apprentice Programme is tailored to an individual's strengths and talents and includes:

• A holistic learning experience with customized on-the-job rotations.
• Enhancing leadership skills among others, via involvement in group-wide special projects.
• International Assignments to immerse Global Maybank Apprentices in global network operations.
• Experiential learning through Corporate Responsibility initiatives, project management and presentation to top management.
• Face-to-face development interventions where a dedicated coach and mentor is assigned to guide Global Maybank Apprentices throughout their journey.

The Global Maybank Apprentice Programme has been awarded GOLD in the Graduate Development Category of the Regional HR Excellence Award 2014.

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SOURCE Maybank

Contact:

Maybank Dane Barr, Senior Consultant, Geometry Global Public Relations Phone: +6012-650 9896; Anna Kajindran, Consultant, Geometry Global Public Relations Phone: +6010-7984717