Asia moves: SocGen replaces China head, Goldman names new partners, and more

Societe Generale has appointed Pierre-Yves Bonnet as country head for China, effective from September 1. He replaces Anne Marion-Bouchacourt, who is taking up new roles as the bank’s country head for Switzerland and chief executive officer of SG Zurich.

Beijing-based Bonnet, who also chairs the board of directors of Societe Generale China, oversees the group’s activities in China. Having held several positions within Societe Generale, Bonnet has previously worked for McKinsey & Company and the French Ministry for Economy and Finance. He reports to Hikaru Ogata, chief executive for Societe Generale in the Asia-Pacific region.

The bank has also named Hugues de La Marnierre as chief executive of Societe Generale China. Based in Beijing, his appointment is subject to the approval of local regulator and authorities. He reports to Bonnet.

UBS has appointed Edmund Koh and Markus Ronner to join its group executive board. Koh has also been named the bank’s Asia-Pacific president, replacing Kathy Shih who has decided to retire at year-end after 32 years with the bank. Koh is currently UBS’s head of wealth management Asia-Pacific and country head for Singapore. He will take on the new role on January 1 next year. Ronner, who has spent 37 years at UBS in various positions is currently head of group regulatory and governance. He started serving as the group board’s head of compliance, regulatory and governance from November 1.

HSBC Bank (Singapore) has announced Mukhtar Hussain as its new director and chairman, replacing Guy Harvey-Samuel, who is stepping down from both roles. Hussain is also head of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for HSBC Asia-Pacific. The bank is hoping to draw upon his regional knowledge to provide effective oversight of its strategy to capture the personal wealth that is flowing from Asean markets into Singapore, as well as to spearhead its regional activity in support of BRI.

Goldman Sachs has revealed a new list of partners, including 10 in the Asia-Pacific region. Among the promoted, Stephanie Smith is head of Asia-Pacific operations and chief operating officer for Goldman Sachs Asia Bank, who is based in Hong Kong. She is also the managing director sponsor for the Asia-Pacific Black and Hispanic/Latino Network, Operations Black Network and a managing director ally for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Network. Four other Hong Kong-based partners are Jamie Goodman and Tanweer Kabir with the securities department, Zheng Li of the investment banking division, and Philippa Vizzone of the global investment research.

Citi has appointed Sally Yeh as global market manager for Taiwan. She reports to Rudolf Hitsch, head of Citi’s north Asia office. In her role, Yeh is responsible for growing Citi’s business with high-net-worth individuals from Taiwan and manages teams based in Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to joining Citi, Yeh was with UBS where she most recently led a team of offshore bankers working with entrepreneurs from Taiwan.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has appointed its chairman Tim Lui Tim-leung as a member of the nominations committee, and non-executive director Edward Cheng Wai-sun, a member of the Takeovers and Mergers Panel and Takeovers Appeal Committee. They both serve for the term from October 20, 2018 to October 19, 2020. Cheng is the chief executive of Wing Tai Properties and chairman of Lanson Place Hospitality Management.

Vontobel Investment Banking has appointed Georg von Wattenwyl to head the development of the external asset managers business in Asia and take global responsibility for the sale of EAM-related products to family offices. His old role for 11 years as head of financial products advisory and distribution will be taken over by Peter Camenzind. Camenzind has been in charge of the transaction banking business unit for Vontobel since 2008. They will both start their new responsibilities on January 1, 2019.

GIC, which manages Singapore’s foreign reserves, has named two new board directors: Lawrence Wong and Seck Wai Kwong. Wong is Singapore’s minister for national development and the second minister for finance. He has been a member of the GIC’s investment strategies committee, which oversees the company’s performance and risk profile and makes appropriate investment policy recommendations. Kwong is the CEO of Asia-Pacific at State Street Bank and Trust Company. He previously served on the GIC’s risk committee from 2010–16.

BlackRock Real Assets has appointed Charlie Reid as head of renewable power in Asia-Pacific, based in Sydney. He was previously a portfolio manager for BlackRock’s renewable power investment team in London for seven years. He is to lead the expanding investment efforts of BlackRock in the region.