BNP Paribas has hired six executives for its Asia-Pacific wealth management unit, the latest example of a global firm swelling its ranks in this fast-growth region.

BNP Paribas, France's largest bank, has hired a handful of executives for its Asia-Pacific wealth management unit, the latest example of a global firm swelling its ranks in this fast-growth region.

The bank today announced six senior appointments made between April and October.

Alfred Tsai joined as head of the China market, based in Hong Kong, on 18 October. Tsai has held various senior management roles at Citibank, UBS, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch. Prior to BNP, he was a managing director and senior advisor at Julius Baer. 

Anton Wong joined the firm on the same date as managing director of the key clients group, also based in Hong Kong. Wong was previously a director for solutions partners at Credit Suisse and had served as equity derivatives sales and trading specialist at TD Securities. He now works with BNP's ultra high net worth client segment, for those clients with $30 million in liquid assets and above. 

Vincent Koo has been working as regional head of wealth management compliance, based in Singapore, since 27 September. Koo previously held senior audit and compliance positions at Deloitte & Touche, Hang Seng Bank, UBS, Citibank and RBS Coutts. At BNP, he works closely with business partners across the region on compliance with rules and regulations, and the maintenance of ethics and control standards. 

On 1 July, Brian Kenyon was relocated to Singapore to become managing director of BNP Paribas Wealth's Singapore trust corporation. This is in addition to his role as deputy head of trust and fiduciary services. He also remains as a director of the Jersey Trust Corporation.

On 13 June, Wallace Woo was appointed managing director and senior investment counsellor for key clients, based in Hong Kong. In this role, Woo is dedicated to serving UHNW clients and working closely with the relationship managers of the key client group. Before BNP, he held similar roles at JP Morgan and HSBC Private Bank.

On 1 June, Florence Chou joined BNP Paribas as head of brand and communications Asia-Pacific, based in Hong Kong. Chou has experience working at RBS Coutts, Merrill Lynch, American Express and Leo Burnett. At BNP, her job involves formulating and implementing communication plans to boost the firm's business model and development. 

"These appointments are a major boost to BNP Paribas Wealth Management Asia-Pacific. We expect to further solidify our position in the market, bolster our offering to the key clients, and accelerate our growth plan," Mignonne Cheng, chairman and chief executive of BNP Paribas Wealth Management Asia-Pacific, said in a statement. 

The announcement adds to the appointment of Laurent Couraudon as country head for China on 1 October. Couraudon relocated to Beijing from Russia, where he was country head for the bank, and replaced Francois Cristofari, who had retired. 

Large wealth managers including Barclays Wealth, ABN AMRO and Julius Baer have been battling fiercely for top talent in the region, where the population of millionaires this year surpassed that in Europe to hit 3.3 million. Yesterday Julius Baer announced it had hired Kaven Leung, former co-head of Goldman Sach's Asia-Pacific wealth business, as its new deputy of Asia-Pacific. Elsewhere, Barclays Wealth yesterday confirmed that it has recruited Carol Chen from Switzerland's UBS, who will join as market head, Greater China, in December. Also yesterday, Dutch lender ABN AMRO said it wanted to double its private banker headcount in Asia-Pacific to reach 200 over the next five years.