ING's long-standing country manager in the Philippines will retire later this year. She will be replaced by a former investment banker and familiar face in Manila.
Consuelo Garcia, also known as «Zondy,» will retire as the Dutch bank's country manager in the Philippines and head of clients in Manila from mid-November, according to local media reports.
Garcia, the only female bank head in the Philippines, was in charge of ING's trading desk in the late 1990s when the Asian financial crisis broke out. She later cited the crisis as one of her scariest career moments, because asset prices began to drop regardless of category.
Garcia has managed ING's operations in the Philippines for the past nine years. Notably, she was instrumental in offloading ING's private banking and asset management businesses when the bank decided to focus on commercial and investment banking instead.
Investment Banker Turned CEO
She will be replaced by Hans Sicat (pictured below), a veteran investment banker who most recently was Chief Executive of the Philippine stock exchange.
A mathematician and economist, Sicat previously held investment banking roles in the Philippines, Hong Kong and New York with Citigroup and Salomon Brothers, its predecessor bank.
He will join the bank mid-August to ensure a smooth transition and will assume his new role when Garcia retires in November.
«ING is grateful to Ms. Garcia for her engaging leadership style and the entrepreneurship that she promoted at ING Bank Manila. We are fortunate to have found a worthy successor in Hans Sicat,» ING's wholesale banking head in Asia, Gerrit Stoelinga, said.
