October was a busy month for moves in Asia-Pacific, with Credit Suisse being one of the standouts. A number of other banks such as DBS, Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank figure among the firms in play.

Pictet and Bangkok Bank unveiled a strategic wealth management alliance to tap into Thailand's emerging wealth story. Claude Haberer, a Pictet equity partner and chairman of the wealth management arm in Asia, joined Bangkok Bank as an advisor to the president from January 2022 after he retired from Pictet.

Value Partners appointed June Wong as president. Based in Hong Kong, she is responsible for managing overall business operations and corporate strategy for the group. The former State Street Global Advisors regional head reports to co-chair and co-chief investment officers Dato’ Seri Cheah Cheng Hye and Louis So. 

Wong was most recently Asia ex-Japan chief executive for State Street Global Advisors, and before that served as vice chair for Asia Pacific at Columbia Threadneedle. The 30-year veteran has had a number of senior roles in the region, including senior managing director and head of Asia ex-Japan institutional business at AllianceBernstein and head of business development at HSBC Asset Management.

Hines, the international real estate firm, appointed Jon Tanaka as senior managing director and country head for Japan. Reporting to Ray Lawler, CEO of Asia-Pacific.

Union Bancaire Privée appointed two senior sectorial analysts – Vey-Sern Ling and Nicolas Wang – who covers Asia technology and healthcare.

Ling joined UBP in Singapore as senior equity advisor, Asia technology. Ling oversees technology and internet equity coverage in Asia, with a particular focus on China. Prior to joining UBP, Ling was a senior analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence covering the Asia Internet sector. He previously held senior positions with BNP Paribas and UBS.

Wang. who joined the firm in Hong Kong as senior equity advisor, Asia healthcare, oversees healthcare equity coverage in Asia, with a particular focus on China. Before joining UBP, Wang was a managing director at Haitong International Research.

DBS Group named Soh Kian Tiong as its chief risk officer. He took over from CRO Tan Teck Long, who left the bank to return to a customer-facing role. Soh reports to DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta.

Standard Chartered appointed Vinay Gandhi as regional head, for the ASEAN region, and global head of the Global South Asian Community, private banking, subject to regulatory approval. He joined from J Safra Sarasin, where he was most recently chief executive for Singapore and deputy CEO, Asia. Gandhi has 30 years of international experience in the financial services industry, of which the majority has been in wealth management. He has managed senior client advisory teams as well as having served ultra-high net worth families.

Deutsche Bank Wealth Management appointed Tse Yi-Mun as a managing director and group head for North Asia. Based in Singapore, Tse reports to Kanas Chan, head of Wealth Management North Asia. Tse joined from HSBC where she was the market head for Hong Kong. She began her career at DBS and ABN AMRO where she was a relationship manager and desk head covering the Greater China region.

Indosuez Wealth Management appointed Josephine Tom as fixed income specialist for the bank’s Hong Kong branch. Tom has more than 20 years’ experience specialising in fixed income. Prior to joining Indosuez, she spent 16 years with DBS Bank in Hong Kong, where she was fixed income sales head for more than two years. 

Pictet Wealth Management appointed Alexandre Tavazzi as Asia chief investment officer. He had been global strategist and head of CIO Office for the firm. Based in Hong Kong. Tavazzi retained his existing duties and continues to report to Cesar Perez Ruiz, head of investments and CIO, and locally to Evelyn Yeo in the additional role.

Former Bank of Singapore managing director Faye Lee joined Deutsche Bank Wealth Management as an MD in the South-East Asia team led by Shang-Wei Chow. Based in Singapore, she reports to Terence Leong, group head of South-East Asia. She has more than 17 years of wealth management experience. Prior to Bank of Singapore, Lee was with ING Asia Private Bank, which was acquired in 2009 by OCBC Bank from ING Group.

Capital Group appointed Toby Chan to the newly-created role of head of Hong Kong client group. Based in Hong Kong, Chan is responsible for the firm’s distribution strategy for intermediary and institutional clients in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. She reports to Grant Leon, managing director of financial intermediaries for Europe and Asia at Capital Group. Most recently she was HSBC’s global head of Jade and Top Tier Proposition, managing the bank’s affluent and high net worth client segment.  In her 15 years with HSBC, she held various senior positions across asset management and wealth management, amongst others.

Global law firm Dechert named senior lawyer Daniel Margulies as a partner in its financial restructuring practice, based in Hong Kong. Margulies has extensive experience in financial restructuring and insolvency matters, distressed asset sales as well as cross-border and special situation financings.

Barclays named Angela Liu as country chief executive for China. Liu reports to Jaideep Khanna, head of Barclays, Asia-Pacific. With almost two decades in the banking industry, Liu recently worked at Deutsche Bank as head of institutional client group, China and Hong Kong, where she led client coverage and distribution across its entire product spectrum. Prior to that, Liu worked at Morgan Stanley for more than 17 years in New York and Hong Kong.

Credit Suisse named Thidatip Thitikarunwong as a team leader. Based in Bangkok, she leads a new Thailand onshore group, which includes newly-appointed relationship managers Nakkagamon Manosri and Naphak Tachasiriamorn. Prior to this, she worked at CIMB Thailand where she was a private banking team head. Thitikarunwong has 20 years of experience in various leadership and relationship management roles, including 10 years with Citibank Thailand and UOB Thailand. 

RBC Wealth Management made two senior appointments in its relationship management team in Hong Kong. Fenny Chan and Angela Chow joined as directors at the team, working with high net worth and ultra HNW clients in the region. They focus on working with families in Greater China who have international ties with Canada, the US and the UK as a result of business interests, employment, property or education.

Chan previously spent 25 years in senior client roles at HSBC, where she provided wealth solutions across banking, investment advisory and wealth planning. 

Chow previously worked at Credit Suisse, where she was vice president, relationship manager. Earlier in her career, she worked at BNP Paribas, LGT and Citibank (HK). Both report to Xygent Chan, who joined the firm earlier this year.

Credit Suisse appointed five team leaders for its north Asia private banking business. 

Sunny Ho joined the bank as team leader for the Hong Kong market. Ho was previously head of private banking at China Minsheng Bank where he was responsible for the development and implementation of business strategies. Prior to that, Ho worked at HSBC, Citibank and Societe Generale. In his new role, he reports to Rickie Chan, market group head of Hong Kong.

Edith Wong, who joined as team leader for the China market, has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, working with ultra-high net worth clients. She previously served in a similar role at JP Morgan Private Bank. Before that Wong spent 12 years at UBS Wealth Management in Hong Kong. She will report to Martin Loh, market group head of China.

Mel Chua was named team leader for Greater China Singapore. He served as the head of front office [business] at the Bank of China Private Bank, starting in 2018. Before that, Chua worked at Bank of Singapore (Hong Kong Branch), UBS and HSBC Singapore. Chua reports to John Huang, market leader, Greater China Singapore, and Huang reports to Eddy Sze, market group head of Hong Kong.

Edward Lee, who has worked for Credit Suisse since 2008, was made team leader for the Hong Kong market. Previously, he was a senior investment consultant for Greater China, where he was responsible for driving investment sales momentum and client engagement. Besides Credit Suisse, he has served in senior roles at HSBC and Citibank. 

Steven Lau, who has worked at Credit Suisse for more than five years, was appointed team leader in the Hong Kong market. Prior to joining the bank, Steven was with Marex Spectron, BNP Paribas and Ernst & Young. He reports to Eddy Sze, market group head of Hong Kong.

Cédric Lizin, regional head, ASEAN and South Asia, and global head, global South Asia community, private banking, left the bank. Lizin was appointed to his role in December 2019. Prior to Standard Chartered, he was most recently head of wealth management and senior executive officer for UBS in Dubai. 

Credit Suisse shareholders approved the election of Alex Lehmann and Juan Colombas to join the board of directors. Lehmann was also made the new chair of the risk committee, succeeding Richard Meddings, who had been acting as ad interim chair in addition to being chair of the audit committee. Colombas was also elected as a new member of the compensation committee as proposed by the board of directors.