People Moves

Bank of Singapore Appoints 11 Private Banking Hires For Greater China

Vanessa Doctor Asia Correspondent 14 January 2013

Bank of Singapore Appoints 11 Private Banking Hires For Greater China

Bank of Singapore has signalled its ambitions to develop business in the world's second-largest economy.

Bank of Singapore has appointed eleven veteran bankers to its Greater China team, in a move signifying the ambitions of this firm in Asia's biggest economy.

The hires comprise seven bankers for the Hong Kong office and four in Singapore, bringing the firm's total Greater China headcount to almost 100. Three of the 11 are team heads, namely Michael Chan, Nancy Jin and Joel Lim. Both Chan and Jin will be Hong Kong-based, while Lim will be based in Singapore. 

Prior to joining the firm in August 2012, Chan was senior vice president at Coutts Hong Kong. In his new Hong Kong-focused role, he reports to Edward Chow, managing director and market head of Greater China. 

Jin was previously the managing director of Guosen Securities (Hong Kong) Asset Management and joined Bank of Singapore in November 2012. Focusing on the offshore China market for BoS, she reports to Dr Johnson Xu, managing director and market head of Greater China, based in Hong Kong. 

Lim used to be part of HSBC Private Bank in Singapore, where he set up the China team. He joined BoS in May 2012 and reports to Arthur Fong, managing director and market head of Greater China, based in Singapore.

The other seasoned bankers who stepped in in 2012 include Denise Ma, Teresa Fung and Winnie Wong in Hong Kong, while the bankers based in Singapore include Vanessa Bock and Charine Wong.

Bank of Singapore's business has grown steadily over the past years despite tough market conditions. As of 30 November 2012, the bank's assets under management records a 30 per cent rise from 2010 to $41 billion. 

In addition, the company has also been expanding its talent count, which has increased 40 per cent from 2010 to about 980 staff by the end of 2012. Since it began operating, Bank of Singapore has nearly doubled its relationship managers to about 280. 

"Greater China's growing economy looks set to fuel opportunities for further development of the private banking business in this region. The latest appointments underscore our confidence and commitment to increase our market share in this geography," said Sermon Kwan, global marketing head for the Greater China region and chief executive of the Hong Kong branch. 

Bank of Singapore is a wholly owned subsidiary of OCBC Bank and serves high net worth individuals and wealthy families in South East Asia, Greater China, Singapore, Philippines, the India sub-continent and other international markets. Besides its Singapore headquarters, it has a branch in Hong Kong and representative offices in Dubai and Manila.

Register for WealthBriefing today

Gain access to regular and exclusive research on the global wealth management sector along with the opportunity to attend industry events such as exclusive invites to Breakfast Briefings and Summits in the major wealth management centres and industry leading awards programmes