Tam was at HSBC for more than 20 years, most recently as regional head of business development, Asia Pacific, for global trade and receivables finance. Yu was head of trade finance and cash management corporates at Deutsche in Hong Kong.
The new hires come on top of two internal moves. Andy Whitford relocating from Shanghai to Hong Kong, where he will add responsibility for the Hong Kong branch to his existing position as head of Greater China. And in 2013, Martin Goodacre relocated from Singapore to Hong Kong to take the new position of head of financial markets, Hong Kong.
Westpac’s focus for its business outside its home market of Australasia is firmly on trade finance and on facilitating what its senior bankers call “the China corridor” — trade and other flows between China and Australia — rather than investment banking or capital markets.
At home, its market position in areas like DCM and syndicated loans is dominant: the bank ranked top in Australasian bonds in 2013, according to Dealogic, with a market share of almost 12%. In loans it was second, with a market share of just below 7%. Its equivalent numbers outside its home market are tiny, but an expansion of capital markets in the rest of Asia is not what is behind the Hong Kong moves. In any case, the firm already has a DCM capability in China in both dollars and renminbi.
The focus is more on supporting Chinese clients — whether state-owned or private sector — with their cross-border trade requirements. The bank has been in China since 2007, and is well established. It was also granted market maker status to directly trade renminbi and Australian dollars in 2013 (see here for separate story on the firm's recent approval for a derivatives licence in China).
Tam joins from HSBC with a focus on China and Hong Kong corporates and will be helping to expand the bank’s client coverage. Yu will be driving trade sales in the core market of China, but also other markets like South Korea and Japan.
Since its arrival in China in 2007, the firm has built up a team of about 75, spread between Beijing and Shanghai. Hong Kong totals about 65 while there are about 250 in Singapore.