Meet Yang

I would not have thought that decades after leaving China for the U.S. in second grade, I would come full circle, returning to the APAC region, and joining BNYM in July 2021 as head of the APAC Operations Enterprise Utilities function for KYC, Account Activation, and Tax Operations, currently managing a team of 30 in Singapore. I am Asian-American, born in Suzhou, China, and I attended elementary school, middle school, and both high school and college, in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and New York respectively.

I am also a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, a byproduct of living in Pittsburgh.  Since it is challenging to follow Sunday games in Singapore, I try to keep up through sports publications and YouTube highlights. Additionally, due to my time in NYC and Hong Kong, I tend to be very fast paced, so I frequently remind myself to slow down.

My early years in the U.S. centered around fitting in – I learned that wearing the same outfit two days in a row would invite unpleasant comments, and leaving shirts untucked was “cool.” The first time I boarded a Minneapolis public bus with my mother, I ran and sat down ahead of nice folks patiently waiting for a seat, giddily shouting, “I saved you a seat, Mom!” much to her horror.

I am grateful to my ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers for showing me kindness and patience; they enabled a foreign kid to successfully navigate his early school years. When I look at my 10-month-old son, I want him to feel comfortable in his own skin wherever he may be, something it took a while for his father to achieve. Being an Asian American in Singapore and the U.S. (part of the majority and minority), has given me a unique perspective on various social issues, providing valuable lessons in patience and empathy.

Graduating during the 2008 financial crisis, with bachelor’s degrees in history and economics from the University of Rochester, jobs were scarce, with primarily Anti-Money Laundering (AML) / Know Your Customer (KYC) roles being offered. I spent my early career at various Wall Street firms performing AML/KYC functions such as transaction monitoring, suspicious activity reporting, KYC, testing, and sanctions screening. My career eventually took me to Hong Kong, then Singapore, managing large regional regulatory changes and KYC transformation programs.

At BNY Mellon, Utilities is a centralized team that provides operational services (KYC, Account Activation, Tax, Billing, and Contracts) to various lines of businesses (LOBs) in the firm; we augment efficiencies by standardizing and providing scalable platforms, which lower cost and enable strong cross-LOB controls.

I firmly believe in transparency and accountability which promote respect among colleagues, and demonstrate integrity by being upfront with misses, which clears the air, fosters trust, and encourages collaborative conversation.