IFR Asia - 08.09.2018

People

&Markets

StanChart restructures, hires COO

STANDARD CHARTERED has hired David Whiteing

from Commonwealth Bank of Australia as

CHIEFûOPERATINGûOFlCERûANDûEXPANDEDûTHEû

ROLEûWITHûTHEûAIMûOFûIMPROVINGûEFlCIENCIESû

and accelerating its push to bring in new

technology.

The Asia-focused bank said Whiteing

will join on September 10 and be based in

Singapore, reporting to CEO Bill Winters.

His role will include running country

operations teams that previously sat

within Standard Chartered’s information

technology operations. The bank said the

new structure will free its technology

teams to focus on resilience and

innovation, while the enlarged COO group

will provide better support for clients and

business units.

Doris Honold, current COO, will help

set up the new structure and take a new

role at a later date. Michael Gorriz, chief

INFORMATIONûOFlCERûWILLûCONTINUEûTOûLEADû

the digital transformation and innovation

programmes.

7HITEINGûWASûCHIEFûINFORMATIONûOFlCERû

for enterprise services at CBA. He was with

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he was previously an adviser at McKinsey

& Co and worked for oil major BP and

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HISû,INKED)NûPROlLE

7HITEINGûWASûONEûOFûSEVERALûHIGH

PROlLEû

departures announced by CBA shortly

after Matt Comyn was picked as CEO in

January following the resignation of his

predecessor, Ian Narev, amid a money-

laundering scandal.

CBA said in March that Whiteing, head

of institutional banking and markets

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin and head of human

resources Melanie Laing would all leave.

Other senior personnel quit, leaving

Comyn with a depleted executive

committee. In June, CBA made six new

appointments to its excom, including

internal promotions and external hires.

Standard Chartered has undergone a

major reorganisation since Bill Winters

was installed as CEO in mid-2015, although

the bank has recently sought to draw a

line under recent travails by talking up

growth.

STEVE SLATER

(Additional reporting by Thomas Blott)

Credit Agricole

boosts acquisition

finance

CREDIT AGRICOLE has strengthened its

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advisory businesses with the creation of

two dedicated teams, according to a press

release last Tuesday.

The French lender has combined the

ACQUISITIONûANDûLEVERAGEDûlNANCEûANDû

advisory businesses with an eye on creating

synergies and offering event-driven

lNANCINGûANDûCAPITALûSTRUCTUREûADVISORYû

solutions to clients. It has also created a

dedicated funds coverage team to expand

its coverage in Asia.

6ETERANûEVENT

DRIVENûlNANCINGûBANKERû

Jean-Yves Korenian has been appointed head

OFûACQUISITIONûlNANCEûANDûADVISORYûFORû!SIAû

while Luyi Shen has been named head of

funds coverage.

Korenian will report to Christophe

Cretot, head of debt origination and

ADVISORYûFORû!SIAû0ACIlCûWHILEû3HENûWILLû

report to Francois Martin, senior country

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lNANCEûFORû!SIA

Korenian has over two decades of

EXPERIENCEûINûEVENT

DRIVENûlNANCINGSûINû

Europe and APAC. Before joining Credit

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APAC at Seafrigo, a logistics and warehouse

management company. He was head of

CORPORATEûACQUISITIONûlNANCEûATû-IZUHOû

Bank in Hong Kong since 2011, before

which he worked at the Japanese bank’s

,ONDONûOFlCEûASûHEADûOFûLEVERAGEDûlNANCEû

for Southern Europe since 2004.

He has also worked in leveraged and

STRUCTUREDûlNANCEûATû2OYALû"ANKûOFû

Scotland and Credit Agricole previously.

Shen has been involved in leveraged

BUYOUTSûFORûlNANCIALûSPONSORSûANDû

acquisitions for blue-chip corporates.

He joined Credit Agricole in Hong Kong

in 2015 before which he too worked at

Mizuho in Australia. He started his career in

THEûLEVERAGEDûANDûACQUISITIONûlNANCEûTEAMû

at National Australia Bank in Australia.

PRAKASH CHAKRAVARTI

Moody's loses

final 'red flags'

appeal

The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal

dismissed an appeal from MOODY’S last

Monday over disciplinary action taken

by the city’s Securities and Futures

Commission over a 2011 report.

“This brings to an end Moody’s challenge

on the SFC’s jurisdiction to take disciplinary

action against it in this matter,” the SFC

said in a statement.

“Moody’s is disappointed that the Court

of Final Appeal has dismissed its appeal

regarding the scope of the SFC’s jurisdiction

but we recognise its importance for market

clarity,” the credit rating agency said in a

statement.

The case stems from a report issued by

Moody’s in July 2011, entitled “Red Flags

for Emerging-Market Companies: A Focus

ONû#HINAvûWHICHûIDENTIlEDûCORPORATEû

governance and accounting concerns over

49 Chinese companies.

The share prices of more than half the

COMPANIESûIDENTIlEDûFELL

In November 2014, the SFC reprimanded

Moody’s and issued a HK$23m (US$2.9m)

lNEû4HEûSECURITIESûREGULATORûDEEMEDûTHATû

Moody’s had breached the code of conduct

under the Securities and Futures Ordinance

with the publication of the report, which it

said contained several inaccuracies and was

misleading.

In March 2016, the Securities and Futures

Appeals Tribunal partially upheld the

decision from the SFC, although it halved

THEûlNEûTOû(+MûANDûDIDûNOTûUPHOLDûTHEû

SFC’s assertion that the agency failed to put

adequate internal controls in place.

Moody’s took the case to the Court of

Appeal, which upheld the decision from

the SFAT last year. In February, the credit

rating agency was granted leave to take the

case to the Court of Final Appeal.

The disciplinary action raised concerns

among investors and shareholder activists

ABOUTûTHEûIMPLICATIONSûFORûlRMSûCARRYINGû

out independent research in Hong Kong.

In 2016, short seller Andrew Left was

banned from the Hong Kong market for

lVEûYEARSûAFTERûAûTRIBUNALûFOUNDûTHATûHEûHADû

committed market misconduct with the

release of a report critical of Evergrande

Real Estate.

THOMAS BLOTT