People moves: Citi axes second Asia-Pac clearing head in 18 months

Deutsche loses Asia head of global markets; StanChart hires HK chief; new Singapore head for Credit Suisse; and others

Citi has ousted Peter Jaeger as head of its Asia-Pacific futures, collateral and clearing business, Risk.net has learned. The bank's move comes just 18 months after it appointed Jaeger to replace Conor Cunningham, who had headed the unit since 2011.

The US bank said that as an interim measure Ian Nissen will act as regional product head, but declined to comment further. Nissen has been Citi's head of futures and over-the-counter clearing for Asia-Pacific since 2015 when he relocated to Singapore from Sydney, where he led the firm's futures and prime service offering.

Jaeger is a clearing industry veteran who joined Citi from Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo where he was in charge of the bank's futures clearing and collateral service offering. Before this, Jaeger spent 15 years at JP Morgan in fixed income, futures and options roles. There, he worked alongside Jerome Kemp, who left in 2011 to join Citi and is now global head of OTC clearing.

Jaeger is a fluent Japanese speaker and his appointment was expected to drive Citi's business in a country that is by far the largest market in Asia-Pacific for clearing and collateral services. One source, however, told Risk.net that the management change was for non-financial reasons.

Jaeger did not respond to a request for comment and it is not clear whether he has another position lined up.

Citi's change of leadership comes at a crucial time for the Asia-Pacific clearers. On March 1, Japan introduces variation margin rules, with Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong set to follow later in the year. A number of jurisdictions, including China, India and Korea, have yet to announce their final rule books, but in general emerging market economies face issues in meeting global collateral standards and the variation margin rules are set to produce a major headache for dealers in the region.

Clearing providers globally are challenged by the new prudential regulatory framework, particularly the leverage ratio, which has significantly increased the costs of providing the service. However, Asia-Pacific has been hit particularly hard by the retreat of global firms such as Barclays and Credit Suisse, which are major players in the US and European markets.

 

Deutsche Bank will part ways with Michael Ormaechea, its head of global markets in Asia-Pacific and chief country officer for Australia. His responsibilities will be handed over to David Lynne and James Boyle, who will become co-heads of global markets in Asia. Lynne will remain responsible for fixed income and currencies, and Boyle will continue overseeing equities in the Asia-Pacific region.

They will report to Garth Ritchie, head of global markets and Werner Steinmüller, chief executive for the Asia-Pacific region. Ormaechea’s successor as chief country officer for Australia has yet to be announced.

Also, in Singapore, two members of Deutsche’s foreign exchange team, Amol Navandar and Ryland Lewer, have left. Navandar had traded emerging market forex options since 2014 for the bank, while Lewer had traded forex products since 2007 in Tokyo, London and Singapore.

 

Standard Chartered has appointed Mary Huen, currently regional head of retail banking, Greater China and North Asia (GCNA), as the new chief executive officer for Hong Kong. Huen will succeed May Tan, who will retire as CEO for Hong Kong after 32 years of service in the financial industry.

Huen has been with Standard Chartered for over 25 years and has held various key positions across retail banking, wealth management, customer experience and governance. She became the head of retail banking for Hong Kong in 2009, and went on to oversee the retail business in the GCNA region in 2015. 

In her new role, she will continue to report to Benjamin Hung, regional CEO for GCNA. Samir Subberwal, currently head of retail banking for Hong Kong, will succeed Huen as the regional head of retail banking, GCNA.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Taiwan’s current CEO, John Tan, will become regional head of financial markets, GCNA, and will double-hat as head of financial markets, Hong Kong. Tan joined Standard Chartered in 2007 and was appointed co-head of wholesale banking and head of global markets for Hong Kong in 2012, before becoming CEO for Standard Chartered in Taiwan in 2014. 

 

Credit Suisse has made Benjamin Cavalli its chief executive for Singapore. Cavalli, who has worked in the city-state for the past 15 years, currently serves as head of private banking in South-east Asia. Lito Camacho, who was in Cavalli’s position previously, will continue to be vice-chairman for Asia-Pacific.

Cavalli will report to Francesco de Ferrari, head of private banking for the Asia-Pacific region and chief executive for South-east Asia.

Singapore-based Dominim Yip, head of G10 forex options at Credit Suisse, is believed to have left the firm. He joined the Swiss bank in 2012 from Citi, where he worked as the director of forex options trading.

 

Arjan de Boer, the former head of private banking, North Asia of ANZ, has moved to Indosuez Wealth Management to become head of markets and investment solutions in Hong Kong. He will report to Antoine Candiotti, chief executive in Hong Kong, and will oversee Asia products and service offerings.   

He joined ANZ in 2013. Previously, he worked at ABN Amro as head of private banking and regional head of treasury and special products in Asia.

 

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has named Patrick Hoerler as head of the bank’s risk assessment and assurance unit, the role vacated by Steve Gordon when he took on responsibility for currency, property and security in March 2016.

Hoerler will now be responsible for identifying and monitoring any financial, operational or reputational risk the central bank could face. His department is also responsible for internal audit and legal provisions; he will report to governor Graeme Wheeler and deputy governor Geoff Bascand.

Hoerler previously worked at energy company Mercury and has an international banking background, having held roles at Credit Suisse and Zurich Kantonbank in the US and Asia. He later moved to New Zealand to work as treasurer for food company Enza.

 

US economist Charles Engel has been appointed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore – in conjunction with the National University of Singapore (NUS) – as the MAS term professor for economics and finance.

Engel will be hosted by the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences' Department of Economics and the Economic Policy Group at the MAS during the term of the professorship.

Engel will deliver a public lecture on the analytical considerations behind a country's management of its currency. He will also present a research seminar on his ongoing work concerning the effects of sectoral productivity performances on the real exchange rate.