Standard Chartered continued to restructure its regional debt capital markets (DCM) team following the departure of senior staff in Singapore. The UK bank has shifted Peter Szekely, global head of its high yield product group, from Hong Kong to Singapore to head DCM in Southeast Asia and made Aaron Russell-Davison acting regional head of capital markets in Southeast Asia.
Rob Mason, head of the bank’s Southeast Asia high yield product group, will succeed Szekely as global head of high yield DCM while Singapore-based Russell-Davison adds his new role to his duties as Standard Chartered’s global head of bond syndicate.
Russell-Davison only assumed his existing role in March after former head of bond syndicate Cristian Jonsson was elevated to become global head of loan syndications after following the retirement of Philip Cracknell retired from the position.
The appointments became effective on July 5, said Standard Chartered.
The announcement came one day after Asiamoney PLUS broke the news that Tan Kee Phong, Standard Chartered’s former head of capital markets in Singapore, had resigned his position to join OCBC in a senior capital markets role.
Tan’s resignation follows the departure of two other directors from Standard Chartered Singapore’s capital markets desk — Donna Kng and Lay Hoon Khoo — who reportedly left for OCBC in the past two months.
Russell-Davidson told Asiamoney PLUS that the local Singapore market continues to be a strong focus for the bank, which plans to make further personnel announcements for its capital market desk at an undisclosed time.
“We will definitely maintain a strong franchise in the Singapore dollar market,” he said, noting the strength of the bank’s broader DCM team in Singapore. He adds that his role as acting regional head of capital markets in Southeast Asia help drive the bank's strategic and client agenda to parallel the efforts across the region.
By July 4, Standard Chartered was ranked second on Singapore dollar DCM league tables, with approximately US$1.12 billion of league table credit this year, according to data provider Dealogic. It trails DBS, with US$1.6 billion, but is ahead of third-place OCBC, with US$688 million.
Asiamoney PLUS also broke news on July 4 that Yung Tan, the former director and head of Northeast Asia and Greater China high yield product group at Standard Chartered, had joined BNP Paribas as the head of North Asia high yield capital markets at a managing director level.
In addition, Shu Duan, who was an associate director in Standard Chartered's Northeast Asia and Greater China high yield product group reporting to Yung Tan, also left the bank to join BNP in early June, focusing on high yield and private debt financing.
Both Yung Tan and Shu joined Sameer Sopori, a managing director and the head of high yield capital markets, Asia Pacific, at BNP Paribas. Sopori is also a former Standard Chartered man, having left his job as global head of the bank’s high yield product group to assume his own role at BNP Paribas in November 2012.
Bank representatives could not confirm whether Standard Chartered would appoint more staff to the high yield team in the near future.
Turbulent times
The staff movements mark a continuation of a time of flux in Standard Chartered’s Asia capital markets team this year.
Earlier changes include the exits of Anthony Arnaudy, formerly a managing director and head of Northeast Asia DCM, and Eric Chan, managing director and head of Northeast Asia loan syndications.
Arnaudy’s former responsibilities were assumed by Karby Leggett, who was elevated to head of capital markets, Northeast Asia, at the end of 2012, and Tee Choon-Hong, global head of CNH capital market products at Standard Chartered, whose role was expanded to include a broader China focus.
In April, Joseph Lance also joined Standard Chartered as a managing director on the bank’s DCM desk for Northeast Asia, most recently joining from Credit Suisse in New York where he was the head of DCM for oil and gas, power and project finance.
His appointment came as Ashish Malhotra, head of DCM at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA-Merrill), left the US bank to become the head of Asia syndicate at Standard Chartered. He accepted that role less than one month after being promoted to his last role at BoA-Merrill.
The numerous changes within Standard Chartered’s DCM division have followed the appointment of Carsten Stoehr as its global head of capital markets in February 2012. Stoehr was formerly head of fixed income in Asia Pacific for Credit Suisse, but parted ways with the bank in November 2011.
In response to queries on the number of staff moves in 2013, Henrik Raber, the bank’s global head of DCM, told Asiamoney PLUS that periods of growth frequently come with changes to a bank’s operations.
“Over the past three years the DCM business has grown substantially across volumes and league tables, through the rise of various products and currencies. As any platform evolves and continues to expand, changes are a part of the natural evolution,” he said. “The whole capital markets arena in Asia has seen a lot activity particularly over the last 18 months. This segment of the industry is growing and various people moves arise.
“The debt capital markets, and thereby the syndicate desks have seen substantial volume increases. As a result industry players look to expand and grab the opportunity,” he added.