Jackie of All Trades: Maybank’s Head of Legal

Jacqueline Keller’s path to becoming Maybank’s head of legal for the Americas didn’t start with a law degree. Growing up in New Rochelle, New York, to a German-born engineer father and Spanish-born accountant mother, education was paramount. She majored in biology at Manhattan College before turning toward Albany Law School.

That scientific background, she says, has proven surprisingly useful. “In my spare time, I enjoyed reading about finance and investing,” Keller recalls. “My favorite hobby became managing my portfolio.”

Early Career and the Crash

As derivatives became a financial industry buzzword, Keller took courses at New York University in 2007–08 while juggling early work at law firms. She moved in-house at Morgan Stanley, but when the market crashed, she returned to private practice. About a decade ago, a recruiter asked if she knew someone who might fit a role at Maybank. Her answer: “Yes, me.” It’s the kind of story legal recruitment agencies in New York love: sometimes the best candidate is the one who picks up the phone.

Building a Legal Function From Scratch

When Keller joined Maybank in April 2014 as head of legal for the Americas, she was on a plane to Kuala Lumpur days later. The executive team welcomed her warmly, but cultural differences were immediately apparent.

Bridging Cultures

Malaysians, like many Southeast Asians, tend to be conservative and relatively relaxed. Keller, a New York lawyer steeped in corporate litigation and high finance, couldn’t be quite so laid back.

“Sometimes they look at me as an American,” she says. “The view overseas is that everything’s litigious in the United States and how legal costs are exorbitant compared to overseas. That can be the case, but I tell them how I feel without a filter advising legal risks. I’m comfortable and sleep well doing that.”

Breaking Down Silos

When she joined, legal risk management wasn’t always top of mind across the organization. Knowing her effectiveness would be limited if she stayed siloed, Keller reached out to other departments — digging into their responsibilities and emphasizing she was there to assist.

She took the lead on regulatory compliance, setting up legal structure, processes, and training programs. That remains a chief concern, especially as cybersecurity becomes a shared responsibility.

“It’s not about just straight legal interpretation,” Keller says. “It’s also finding the solutions to get the business side where it wants to go. We’re mitigating risk while ensuring there is room for innovation to meet the needs of our customers better as we continue to scale.”

A Generalist’s Toolkit

Maybank is Malaysia’s largest bank by market capitalization and one of the largest in Southeast Asia, but its US presence is modest — limited to New York. That makes Keller’s versatility essential.

Outside Counsel and Internal Ears

With resources often stretched thin, Keller relies on a few key firms for outsourced expertise: Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson for international matters, and Katten Muchin Rosenman for its global reach.

But she won’t sell short the importance of listening. Asked what her superpower might be, Keller says she can comprehend others’ views — and that enhances her value as a business-minded attorney.

Day-to-Day Variety

“It’s a mixed bag of everything,” she says. “Day to day, it could be a contract for IT, a real estate deal that goes through a syndicated loan or a derivatives contract for the capital markets team. But having been in private practice and in-house, this is where I can make the biggest difference.”

Life Outside the Office

Keller enjoys life in and around New York City. She still manages her portfolio, but travel has become her favorite hobby — with regular trips overseas and to the tropics. She’s an accomplished pianist and a pretty fair tennis player, having returned to the game after a long hiatus.

As her milestone anniversary at Maybank approaches, Keller says it’s been a most interesting ride. Assembling a legal department from the ground up took some doing, and with banking among the most regulated industries, she’s always trying to anticipate what’s next for compliance.

She’s a Jackie of all trades — and seems to have mastered them, too.