Bank of New York Mellon has appointed Sunny (Xiao-Xia) Sun as head of global client management in China. In this newly created position, Sun will report to Eleni Wang, head of global client management for Asia-Pacific, and will focus on ensuring Chinese clients have greater awareness and access to the company’s investment management solutions.
Sun, based in Beijing, joined BNY Mellon in 1998 and became a relationship manager in the corporate banking division in New York in 1999, followed by China country desk officer in the Asia-Pacific division. In 2003, Sun was appointed as deputy representative of BNY Mellon’s Beijing representative office (now a branch) and relocated to China.
The firm also announced that Caleb Shih, a 17-year veteran of BNY Mellon and currently in the depositary receipts department of the Shanghai branch, will be joining global client management as a client executive, also reporting to Wang. Shih has been nominated by the company to be the general manager of the Beijing branch, subject to regulatory approval.
Shih will be relocating from Shanghai to Beijing and will manage client relationships and be responsible for overseeing the branch and BNY Mellon’s relationships with local regulators. He replaces Larry Chen, whom BNY Mellon said will be leaving the organisation to pursue other interests.
Prepping for more business
BNY Mellon cites renminbi capability as a major area of investment for its business in China, given the growing internationalisation of China’s currency and increasing client demand in China and across Asia.
“We are investing heavily to provide our clients with a full suite of RMB capabilities,” said Steve Lackey, chairman of Asia-Pacific, BNY Mellon.
In February 2011, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) granted BNY Mellon a licence to conduct local currency business in China. The company’s Shanghai branch began offering renminbi foreign exchange and money market services in April 2011, and BNY Mellon also recently started offering offshore renminbi settlement services to corporate clients in Hong Kong.
In June 2010, the CBRC permitted BNY Mellon to set up a banking branch in Beijing, and in July 2010, the China Securities Regulatory Commission allowed BNY Mellon and Western Securities to establish a joint venture fund management company in China, known as BNY Mellon Western Fund Management Company Limited.
BNY Mellon originally focused on treasury, trade and payments services. This has evolved today to include a wide variety of products and services including asset management, custody, fund administration, depositary receipts and foreign exchange.
