RBS loses Wong from DCM
Vincent Wong, a managing director in RBS’ debt capital markets (RBS) team, left the bank last week to join a rival institution, sources confirm to Asiamoney PLUS, marking the latest senior move from RBS’ debt team.
Wong resigned the bank on Tuesday (July 9), which was also his last day in the office. Sources close to Wong say that he will join a rival bank following his gardening leave, though they could not disclose his destination.
Hong Kong-based Wong was responsible for origination and execution for the bank’s cross-border DCM transactions across corporates and financial institutions in Asia. His coverage included investment grade, high yield and hybrid capital transactions in G3 and regional currencies.
He joined RBS in 2007 as an executive director after spending 10 years at Deutsche Bank in New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. He most recently focused on acquisition and capital markets financing for investment grade corporates in the consumer, industrial and healthcare sectors from 2003-2006 in Deutsche Bank’s New York office.
Sources with knowledge of RBS’ DCM desk say that Wong’s duties expanded to include many of the responsibilities formerly held by Augusto King, RBS’ head of DCM who left the bank in March to join Jefferies in a senior DCM role.
Morgan Stanley loses FX, rates trades to hedge funds
Morgan Stanley’s head of foreign exchange (FX) and emerging markets trading for Asia, David Hong, and head of Asia rates trading, Panich Prompat, have both resigned their positions at the bank last week, sources tell Asiamoney PLUS.
Both Hong and Prompat will join an undisclosed global hedge fund in Singapore, though their roles could not be confirmed.
Daniel Whang, a rates trader out of Hong Kong, has also resigned from the bank and is said to be joining a hedge fund. It is unclear if he is joining the same fund as Hong and Prompat. He joined the bank in March 2011.
Hong, who is also based in Hong Kong, was a managing director who oversaw G10 FX and emerging markets currency and rates trading in the region. He had held the role since August 31, 2010 and reported globally to Morgan Stanley’s co-heads of FX and emerging markets, Hong Kong-based Stephen Glynn and New York-based Senaud Prusac.
Hong joined Morgan Stanley after nine years at RBS and ABN Amro in Singapore. He had most recently been the head of global Asian FX and short-term interest rates trading and Asia Pacific head of FX trading. He previously worked at UBS and J.P. Morgan. Prompat, meanwhile, was an executive director in Hong Kong. A representative from Morgan Stanley confirmed the departures.
StanChart’s global head of credit strategy joins Asifma
Vijay Chander has joined the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (Asifma) as an executive director in fixed income. He will be based in Hong Kong and joins from Standard Chartered, where he was global head of credit strategy.
Chander has worked for more than 25 years on both the buy-side and the sell-side of fixed income and credit. Before Standard Chartered, he worked as head of market risk at Citibank in Hong Kong, credit portfolio manager at the Asian arm of the Prudential Insurance Company of North America, credit proprietary trader at Bear Stearns and senior credit research analyst at BNP Paribas.
Bajaj to head Apac commercial bank at Citi
Ashish Bajaj will take on the role of Asia Pacific head of Citi commercial bank. He will report to Jonathan Larsen, Asia Pacific head of consumer banking and global head of retail banking, and to Sunil Garg, global head of Citi commercial bank.
Bajaj takes over from Gaurang Hattangdi, who will become global head of product development for commercial banking. He has worked at Citi for 26 years, and is currently the regional head of relationship management for financial institutions in Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong.
Before that he headed up Citi transaction services in South Asia for seven years, based in Mumbai. He has also been head of Citi commercial bank for South Asia, and global payments head of Citi’s cash management services based in New York.
StanChart hires two global heads
Min Park has joined Standard Chartered as global head of equity derivatives and convertible sales. Park is based in Hong Kong and reports to Simon Brookhouse, global head of equities.
He joins the bank from Credit Suisse in Hong Kong, where he was head of the equity derivatives and convertible bonds sales team for Asia Pacific.
In addition, Mark Webster has joined the bank from RBS as global head of FX sales. He will be based in Singapore and will report to Christian Wait, global head of sales, financial markets. The role is a new position at the bank.
At RBS, Webster was global head of FX sales for EMEA and global head of FX sales for financial institutions. He has more than 20 years experience in the sector.
CS appoints head of HK and China research and sales
Thomas Wong has been appointed managing director and head of Hong Kong and China research and sales at Credit Suisse. He will also take on the role of regional head of oil and gas research, with a primary focus on China.
Wong will be based in Hong Kong, reporting to Nicole Yuen, head of greater China equities. He will also report to Al Park, head of equities sales for Asia Pacific and Ernest Fong, head of research for non-Japan Asia.
Wong joins the bank from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was head of greater China research since 2009. Before that he was a portfolio manager at Och Ziff Capital Management and led regional oil and gas research at UBS.
SocGen hires Apac head of strategic transactions
Catherine Bradley has joined Société Générale as head of strategic transactions group for Asia Pacific. She is based in Hong Kong and reports to Yann Garnier, head of cross asset solutions and fixed income sales for Asia Pacific, as well as to Olivier Buttier, head of solutions and strategic transactions group.
The appointment is in tandem with the launch of the strategic transactions group, a new division with a focus on equity related and risk management products. Bradley joined the bank in June from Credit Suisse, where she was head of the bank’s equity-linked solutions group in Asia.
Low joins Bank J.Safra Sarasin in client advisory role
Geraldine Low Ai Ping has joined Bank J. Safra Sarasin in Singapore as managing director, client advisory, effective immediately. She will report to Eric Morin, chief executive officer of Singapore and Southeast Asia.
She joins from DBS Private Bank, Singapore where she was a senior vice president, team leader and senior client partner. She joined the wealth management business in 2006 and has also held senior positions at CIC Banque Privée, Singapore Branch and Citi Private Bank, Singapore.
Chang named Barclays China chief economist
Jian Chang has been promoted to chief economist for China at Barclays. She will take over from Yiping Huang, who has left the bank to take on a role at Peking University as a professor of economics.
Chang joined Barclays in 2009 on the China economics team. Before this she worked at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, with a focus on the Chinese economy and financial markets. Between 2001 and 2004, she worked at the World Bank in Washington DC as a consultant.
Coutts introduces global chief economist role
Mark McFarland will become executive director and global chief economist at Coutts Private Bank. The role is a new one. He will be based in Hong Kong and will work alongside the private bank’s three chief investment officers – Alan Higgins in the UK, Gary Dugan who covers Asia and the Middle East, and Norman Villamin for Europe.
He will report to Gayle Schumacher, managing director and head of investment office. He will also report locally to Dugan. McFarland has worked in global markets for more than 15 years, in London, Hong Kong and Dubai.
He joined Coutts from Emirates NBD where he was chief investment strategist and head of the wealth management investment strategy unit. Before this he held a series of chief economist roles in Asia with Santander and Swiss Re.