| Mike Ng, group chief sustainability officer – OCBC |
Singapore-based lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) has appointed Mike Ng as its first group chief sustainability officer.
In this newly created role, Mr Ng will be tasked with leading the bank’s transition to net zero and bringing its business into alignment with environmental, social and governance strategies. He will also be responsible for overseeing initiatives that aid its clients with their own transition and providing products and services to support their climate action plans.
Since June 2022, Mr Ng has served as head of OCBC’s sustainability office for global wholesale banking, overseeing small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporates. He initially joined the bank in 2010 as head of structured and project finance and later expanded his responsibilities to promote sustainable finance solutions among large corporates in 2018. During the past five years, he has provided guidance to corporate clients from various industries on their net-zero transition.
The appointment follows OCBC’s creation of a board sustainability committee in February, which forms part of the bank’s push to increase its emphasis on sustainability as a fundamental aspect of its corporate strategy.
In May, OCBC revealed its decarbonisation targets for six sectors and outlined the actions required to attain net-zero-financed emissions by 2050. In addition, the bank is making progress towards surpassing its S$50bn ($37.6bn) target in committed sustainable finance. It is on track to achieve the target two years ahead of schedule, which was originally set for S$50bn by 2025.
| Glen Gowland, vice-chair, and Jacqui Allard, group head, global wealth management – Scotiabank |
Scotiabank has announced that Glen Gowland, the current head of its global wealth management division, will transition to the advisory role of vice-chair in January next year. Former Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) executive vice-president of personal financing products Jacqui Allard has been named as his successor.
Mr Gowland has led the bank’s wealth management division as group head since it was established as a stand-alone business in 2019. Prior to that, he headed the wealth unit within Scotiabank’s Canadian banking arm, taking on the responsibility of integrating two wealth managers (Jarislowsky Fraser and MD Financial Management) acquired by Scotiabank for more than $3.5bn in 2018.
Prior to joining Scotiabank, Ms Allard held a variety of executive positions at RBC since joining in 2014, including as head of wealth management solutions and client strategy, as well as leading strategy, transformation and marketing for its personal and commercial banking division. Prior to that, she served as head of operations and chief information officer for the global investment division at Toronto-headquartered financial services firm Manulife Financial.
| Diego Suárez, head of investment banking, Mexico – Bank of America |
Bank of America has promoted Diego Suárez to head of its investment banking business in Mexico. Mr Suárez had previously been serving as the business unit’s co-head, but he will now lead the business independently following the departure of co-head Ricardo Fernández, who has joined Barclays as head of its rival Mexico-based investment bank.
Prior to assuming his role in Mexico, Mr Suárez served within the bank’s Latin America investment banking team based in New York, where he held senior positions in mergers and acquisitions from 2009 to 2017. Before that, he was based in Colombia as part of the coverage team for the Andean region between 2007 and 2009.
Martijn Stoker, global head of global payments solutions, liquidity and investment solutions – HSBC
HSBC has named Martijn Stoker as global head of the bank’s global payment solutions, liquidity and investment solutions unit.
Mr Stoker will join HSBC from JPMorgan in October, where he served in various senior roles for almost a decade, most recently as managing director, Europe, the Middle East and Africa head of liquidity and accounting solutions. Prior to that, he served as an Asia-Pacific managing director for BNP Paribas in Singapore, and has held senior positions at Standard Chartered Bank and ABN Amro Bank.
In his new role, he will oversee the development and execution of product strategy for the global payments solutions units’ liabilities and liquidity management product portfolio.
| Ozlem Gunduz Robinson, head of international private financial – Lloyds Bank International |
Lloyds Bank International has appointed Ozlem Gunduz Robinson as the new head of its international private bank. Serving the needs of private, wealthy and expatriate customers, the bank operates from offices located in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and London.
During her 25-year-long career, Ms Robinson has held various senior roles in corporate, private and retail banking. Prior to joining Lloyds Bank, she spent nine years at HSBC, most recently as global head of wealth capital markets, credit and advisory. Before that, she held numerous wealth management roles at UBS and Citigroup.
| Henrik Ahlstrom, head of fixed income sales Nordics – KNG Securities |
KNG Securities, a London-based investment banking boutique, has appointed Henrik Ahlstrom as head of fixed income sales for the Nordics region. He will be tasked with growing its Nordics desk as the firm continues to expand its geographic coverage.
Mr Ahlstrom has more than 20 years of experience working in fixed income debt. He previously served as institutional credit sales director at HSBC for 16 years, where he held responsibility for the entire Nordic region. Before that, he spent six years at Handelsbanken.
