This underscores Goldman SachsÆ commitment to Southeast Asia, and the move, according to insiders, was largely driven by clients saying they wanted to see more of a Goldman Sachs presence in the region.
The firm said in an internal announcement that Ryan, who is a managing director and had been head of the financing group in Asia ex-Japan since 2005, will be responsible for determining and implementing strategy and ensuring that there is effective cross-divisional coordination across the firmÆs activities in these markets. The statement also said that as a key part of building the franchise in Southeast Asia, he will continue to work closely with the financing group on both public and private transactions.
In plain English, that means he will oversee the bankÆs capital markets operations as well as asset management, private banking, wealth management and commodities business.
This means that Tim Leissner, Goldman SachsÆ head of investment banking for Southeast Asia, will be getting some support in the region and will be able to get additional resources if and when they are needed.
Another take on this move is to consider the increasing number of deals done out of Singapore that involve the Middle East û consider Saudi Telecoms' deals in Indonesia and Malaysia. They arguably make the region more important. The growing decision by petro-dollar rich Middle East corporate leaders and individual investors to look to Asia as a place to invest, certainly helps sell the Asia story.
To round out the firmÆs coverage, Dan Dees, a managing director who had been the head of the financing group in Japan since 2004, will relocate from Tokyo to Hong Kong to take over RyanÆs old role as head of the financing group across Asia, which will now also include Japan. Jasper Tans will relocate from London to Tokyo and become head of the Japan financing group. Tans, also a managing director, had been responsible for financing group activity in the Benelux/Nordic region, based in London, since 2003.
Ryan and Dees will transition formally into their new roles at the beginning of fiscal 2008 and Tans shortly thereafter.
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