Standard Chartered has appointed Lim Cheng Teck as its chief executive for the Asean region as part of a reorganization of the bank that began in January after a disappointing 2013.
Cheng Teck, a 26-year veteran at StanChart, will be based in Singapore and assume responsibility for a region that produced nearly a quarter of the emerging market bank’s total income in 2013.
He will report to Jaspal Bindra, StanChart's group executive director and CEO Asia. The move is effective from May 1.
“Asean has immense opportunities, with its 600 million-strong population and steady economic growth; it has significant potential for the financial services industry,” Chen Teck said in a statement.
The Asean-10 economies are expected to grow by 5.4% per year from 2014-2018, according to the OECD.
Cheng Teck was previously CEO and executive vice-chairman of Standard Chartered Bank (China), where revenues doubled from 2009 to 2012, crossing US$1 billion for the first time.
Before that, Cheng Teck was CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. He has also been chairman of StanChart Mauritius and a non-executive director of StanChart Taiwan.
Standard Chartered embarked on a major restructuring of its operations this year with a view to deploying its resources more effectively amid a decline in revenues. The bank, listed in London, had a difficult 2013 that saw its operating income fall 1% and profit before tax drop 7%.
As a result it brought together its wholesale banking and consumer banking divisions and then split into three customer segment groups: corporate and institutional clients, commercial and private banking, and retail customers. These are serviced by five global product groups: financial markets; corporate finance; transaction banking, wealth products and retail products.
The changes took effect on April 1.
As part of the revamp the bank also created eight separate geographic operations, with effect from January 1: Asean, Greater China, North East Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, South Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
It has already appointed CEOs to many of these posts, including Ben Hung in Greater China, Ajay Kanwal in North East Asia and Sunil Kaushal in South Asia.
“Our Asean franchise is one of the eight key regions which the bank is focusing on. It is an important region … we are confident of Asean’s growth potential and, with Cheng Tech’s appointment, our aim is to more effectively contribute to and grow with the region,” Bindra said in a statement.
