People moves: ANZ makes senior changes in Apac

Also: Priestley leaves JPM; Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority staffs up; ABN Amro hires Simon Wood; and others

New CFO for ANZ’s Australia business

There have been a number of key appointments at ANZ across its business throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Scott Manning has been appointed as chief financial officer of the group’s Australia business, to replace Nick Freeman, who has left to join drugs company Mayne Pharma as CFO. Manning, who takes up his appointment on August 1, joins from JP Morgan, where he was lead analyst for the Australia banking sector.

ANZ has named Anna Green as the new chief executive of its Philippines business. Green, who is currently chief executive for ANZ Laos, will report to David Green, head of South-east Asia.

The Australian bank has also appointed Bhavik Pandya as new head of debt capital markets for South-east Asia, a newly created position. Pandya was previously in charge of debt capital markets origination for India, the Philippines, Middle East and the Pacific. The position is based in Singapore.

ANZ has also hired Gavin Chappell as head of loan syndications in Australia. Chappell joins from Westpac, where he was most recently head of asset finance and residual value investment business for the institutional bank. Chappell also spent four years as chairman of the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association’s Australia branch.

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The chief executive of JP Morgan’s Australia and New Zealand franchise, Robert Priestley, has stepped down after 15 years in the position. He will be succeeded by Paul Uren, currently head of investment banking for Australia at the US bank. Priestley will become the non-executive chairman of the bank in that region. He will also become a non-executive director of the Australian Stock Exchange.

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A number of senior appointments have been made at Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority, a new independent regulator that will replace the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance later this year. Commissioner of insurance John Leung will become chief executive of the regulator. Beneath him, Carol Hui will become responsible for long-term business, Simon Lam for general business, Stephen Po for market conduct and Raymond Tam for policy and development. 

Hui moves across from the Office of the Commissioner, where she was acting commissioner of insurance for long-term business. Lam joins from Starr International Insurance, where he was chief operating officer for Asia. Po joins from the Securities and Futures Commission, where he was senior director of intermediaries supervision. Tam joins from Ageas, where he was chief risk officer for Asia.

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Dutch bank ABN Amro has appointed Simon Wood as head of financial institutions group Asia, based in Hong Kong. Wood joins from BNP Paribas, where he has been Asian head of financial institutions group investment banking since 2011. Before this he held a similar position at Macquarie. This is Wood’s second stint at ABN Amro. He held the same role at the bank between 2004 and 2005.

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The chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan has died aged 67, the central bank confirmed in a statement on May 23.

Fayzulla Mullazhanov had headed the institution since it formed in the aftermath of the Cold War, and oversaw a period of significant change for the central Asian nation. During his 26 years as chairman, Mullazhanov was closely involved in Uzbekistan’s transition from a controlled to a market economy. First deputy governor Saidkamol Hojaev is serving as acting chairman, according to local media reports. 

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UK insurer Prudential has appointed its group chief financial officer Nic Nicandrou to take over as its Asian chief executive. He will replace Tony Wilkey, who is stepping down to pursue new challenges. Mark FitzPatrick, currently a managing partner for Deloitte UK, will replace Nicandrou as group CFO.

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Commonwealth Bank of Australia has appointed Rob Jesudason as its chief financial officer to take over from David Craig, who is retiring after more than 10 years in the job. Jesudason is presently group executive of international financial services, based in Hong Kong. Coen Junker, a member of the international financial services team, has been promoted to replace him in this role. These appointments will be effective from July 1.

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German financial services company Commerzbank has appointed Jörg Motel as head of its corporate banking operations across South-east Asia, based in Singapore. Motel was previously head of financial institutions sales for Asia at the firm, a role that is based in Frankfurt. Jochen Mueller, previously country manager for UK corporates, will succeed him in this role.

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Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Nestor Espenilla to succeed Amando Tetangco as governor of the central bank when his term comes to an end in July.

The appointment of Espenilla, currently deputy governor for banking supervision, ends months of speculation over who would take over from Tetangco, who has held the post of governor since 2005. The central bank has traditionally been led by bankers from the private sector; a trend broken by Tetangco’s appointment in 2005. Espenilla, like Tetangco, is a career central banker.

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One of the deputy governors of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been appointed acting governor until a permanent replacement can be found for outgoing Ashraf Wathra, the central bank announced on May 2.

The government appointed Riaz Riazuddin for a period of three months or “until appointment of a regular governor” can be made, after Wathra was not granted a second three-year term.