There is a wave of new leadership in Asia’s banking industry. finews.asia takes a look at some of 2024’s top moves in the region.
In 2024, Asia’s banking industry saw major shifts in leadership talent across the board. This was the result of mergers, restructuring, succession or simply the day-to-day fast-paced changes that are commonplace in the region.
finews.asia takes a look at some of the top moves in 2024.
DBS: A New Era
After serving as DBS’ CEO since 2009, the Singapore lender announced that Piyush Gupta will step down and be succeeded by Tan Su Shan in March 2025. According to DBS chairman Peter Seah, Tan’s selection was unanimous and the reasons cited included successful leadership in consumer, wealth and institutional banking, contributions in technology and soft factors like her people skills.
Tan said she will focus on what she calls «the four C’s»: the culture of being «neighbors first, bankers second», a focus on customers, collaboration internally, particularly in cross-division activities, and the continuity of a legacy built on transformation.
«I've worked in consumer, retail, wealth, private bank. I now run [institutional banking group],» Tan said during a press conference in August. «I think I can bring a lot more collaboration […] to the customer, bringing them a one-bank solution.»
UBS: Switzerland to Asia
Following the takeover of Credit Suisse, Asia has become an even more important part of UBS’ business. This is evidenced by its decision to ship top talent from Switzerland to Asia.
In May, the Swiss banking giant made a landmark move by announcing Iqbal Khan’s relocation to Hong Kong as Asia president and co-head of wealth management. The appointment was history in the making as Khan became UBS' first-ever divisional president to be based in APAC. This month, the bank followed up with another C-suite relocation as Wiwi Gutmannsbauer was named as APAC chief operating officer to be co-based in Singapore.
HSBC: Asia-Middle East Corridor
Under new group CEO Georges Elhedery, HSBC has seen a flurry of changes as part of a global overhaul. Asia has been relatively unscathed and now belongs to a larger geographical cluster. Under the new structure, the Asia business has now been combined with the Middle East business as part of an Eastern unit overseen by David Liao and Surendra Rosha.
HSBC is expected to leverage new opportunities from the Asia-Middle East corridor with an optimistic outlook in trade between the two regions. Elhedery’s experience could come in handy as he was previously the bank’s Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT) CEO.
Citi: Hong Kong Veteran Exits
After 26 years with Citi, one of Hong Kong’s most renowned bankers, Angel Ng, decided to leave. Her exit coincided with ongoing restructuring at the US lender which led to new business heads and geographical clusters.
Ng would be succeeded by Mark Luet as Asia North and Australia cluster and banking head before moving on to join Prudential as regional CEO, Greater China, customer and wealth.
Pure-Play Moves
Beyond universal banks, pure-play private banks have also been making marquee moves, especially late in the year.
This includes Pictet’s hire of ex-BNP Paribas banker Alison Lim as Singapore branch CEO, CBH's appointment of of Enid Yip as CEO of its Asia subsidiary and Lombard Odier’s announcement of Omar Shokur as Asia head of private clients, effective 1 March 2025.
