Asia moves: HSBC makes raft of senior hires, Barclays appoints Singapore private banking head, and more

HSBC has made a number of senior hires to its Asian business. Jackie Mau has been named as head of global private banking for mainland China, while Victor Wang becomes Europe, the Middle East & Africa head of Asia coverage and connectivity for HSBC Private Bank. Meanwhile, Peter Wong has stepped down as chief executive officer of Asia-Pacific, and the position that he held has now been split into two, with David Liao and Surendra Rosha becoming joint Asia-Pacific CEOs at the bank.

Mau will be based in Shanghai and report locally to Richard Li, head of wealth and personal banking for China, and functionally to Siew Meng Tan, regional head of global private banking in Asia. Wang will be based in London and report jointly to Shailesh Jaiswal, the interim head of international for HSBC private banking, and Ivan Wong, interim market head for North Asia for private banking. Wang has more than 19 years of experience at HSBC. Liao was previously head of global banking for Asia-Pacific, while Rosha was formerly CEO of HSBC India. 

Wong will step into the role of non-executive chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, replacing Laura Cha, who has also stepped down as non-executive director of HSBC Holdings. Wong will also serve as an adviser to group chairman Mark Tucker and group CEO Noel Quinn.

Meanwhile Hitendra Dave, head of global banking and markets for HSBC India, has been appointed interim CEO of HSBC India, and is expected to be named permanent CEO once full regulatory approval is received. Liao’s successor will be announced in due course.

Barclays has appointed Evonne Tan as head of its private bank in Singapore. Tan will report to James Penny, head of Asia, Private Bank ex-India. Tan joins Barclays from UBS Singapore where she was a market team head responsible for running the ultra-high-net-worth business there. 

Barclays has also appointed Ee-Ching Tay as head of South-east Asia banking. Based in Singapore, Tay will report to Vanessa Koo, head of banking for Asia-Pacific and greater China. 

Tay has more than 20 years of experience in investment banking in the US and in Asia. Tay takes over from Sandeep Pahwa, who has led Barclays South-east Asia banking since November 2010. Pahwa will continue to serve as head of Asia-Pacific client coverage at Barclays. 

BNY Mellon has appointed Gabriel Cheung as director of asset servicing and digital for Asia-Pacific. Cheung will also serve as head of trustee in Hong Kong. Gabriel will report jointly to Mathew Kathayanat, head of product and strategy for Asia-Pacific, who is based in Singapore, and Simon Voss, head of international trustee and depository, who is based in Europe. 

Cheung has extensive experience in the asset-servicing industry. He most recently served as head of trustee services for Brown Brothers Harriman in Hong Kong.  

Crédit Agricole has appointed Romain Voisin as head of energy and infrastructure group for Asia. Voisin replaces Quentin Slight, who has relocated to London as head of structured finance advisory power. 

Voisin has more than 15 years of regional and international experience in energy and infrastructure. He joined Crédit Agricole in 2004. 

Voisin will be based in Hong Kong, reporting locally to Edouard O’Neill, Hong Kong chief executive officer, and globally to Jean-François Grandchamp des Raux, global head of energy and infrastructure group.

Sun Life has named Kim Yeoh as chief financial officer for Asia. Yeoh joined Sun Life Asia in 2017 as vice-president for asset liability management in Asia, and subsequently became chief actuary for the region. She began her career in Canada with Clarica, which was later acquired by Sun Life. 

Yeoh replaces Karim Gilani, who has been appointed to lead the firm’s international hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bermuda. 

Northern Trust has appointed Julie Zhu to lead its asset-servicing business in China. Zhu, who is based in Beijing, assumes the role of branch manager from Michael Wu, who was most recently country executive for Greater China. She will report to Angelo Calvitto, who was recently appointed head of Asia. Zhu has been at Northern Trust since 2005, working predominantly with Chinese clients. She was most recently deputy Beijing branch manager.

State Street has appointed Pauline Wong as head of the Hong Kong division and Ilona Chen as head of Taiwan. These newly-created roles will report to Mostapha Tahiri, CEO for Asia-Pacific. 

Wong joined State Street in 2011 and was most recently the Asia-Pacific lead for the firm’s client program office. Chen joined State Street in 1993 and helped establish the firm’s asset-servicing business in Taipei in 1995. Her most recent role was as head of institutional services for Greater China. 

Crédit Agricole has appointed Ravi Nichani as head of acquisition finance and advisory for Asia-Pacific. Ravi replaces Jean-Yves Korenian, who is relocating to Paris as global head of acquisition finance and advisory. 

Nichani has more than 15 years’ experience in the fields of acquisition finance, corporate finance and loan syndications. Nichani will report jointly to Christophe Crétot, head of debt origination and advisory for Asia, and Edouard O’Neill, Hong Kong branch CEO.

As part of a government-wide reshuffle, Ryozo Himino has left the Japan Financial Services Agency. Himino, who was most recently commissioner at the JFSA, has spent more than 20 years at the regulator and served on a number of international bodies. 

Himino says he does not have a plan yet of what he will be doing next.

Commerzbank has appointed Jack Jiang as head of capital markets and advisory for Asia, based in Singapore. Jiang reports globally to Roman Schmidt, head of the capital markets business, and regionally to Nick Johnston, regional board member Asia. 

Jiang joined Commerzbank in 2017 as head of Asia rates and local markets trading before leading the interest rate currencies and commodities trading Asia team in 2018 and the emerging markets business in 2019. 

In addition to his new role at Commerzbank, Jiang will continue to manage the bank’s global emerging markets FX and rates business.