Barclays sets up new loan team in Singapore

Barclays Capital, the fixed income specialist, is moving two senior officers to Singapore to boost its loan origination capabilities in South East Asia. Richard Palmer is moving from Australia to Singapore to run the division. He was previously head of the global loans team in Australia, a role he will maintain while in Singapore.

His new duties include product origination for Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Palmer is a director of Barclays Capital and has been with the firm since 1988.

Joining Palmer in Singapore will be Justin Crane, who is moving down from Hong Kong. Crane - an ex-Marine with the British army - will use his muscle to help with the origination work, as well as managing some of the syndication relationships that Barclays has in Singapore.

In his spare time Crane likes to run triathlon and 'ironman' races and is regularly seen taking his mountain bike on business trips with him. It is not clear if the flat terrain of Singapore will benefit or detract from his exhaustive training regime. Crane did not reply to e-mails asking for comment.

According to sources within Barclays, the move is aimed at getting people closer to the issuer action in booming South East Asia. It is also aimed at getting better relationships with international bank investors that are based in the country.

Both Palmer and Crane will continue reporting to Grace Tam, who runs the global loans team in Asia out of Hong Kong. "These changes are intended to focus our product origination efforts in Asia Pacific while allowing us to remain flexible to support business throughout the region," says Tam.