Laurens leaves Citibank to head HSBC's cash management product

After an extensive executive search campaign, HSBC's cash management division has hired John Laurens from Citibank in Australia as head of product for the Asia Pacific region.

Laurens' most recent position with Citibank was head of corporate banking in Australia where he has spent the last two years. Prior to that he held several transaction banking posts for the US bank including regional sales director for Asia and regional head for Asia Pacific global cash and trade product management. He spent five years living in Singapore, leaving there in 1999 to transfer to Australia.

At HSBC, Laurens will be responsible for managing the bank's existing range of cash management products while developing new products for the region and overseeing implementation. He will also be involved in the regional roll-out of global products such as the latest version of the bank's web-based Hexagon platform.

Commenting on the appointment, Lawrence Webb, head of payments and cash management for the bank, said: "John's recruitment is an important further step forward in our stated objective of becoming the top cash management bank in Asia. The coming year will be challenging, but we are committed to building market share."

Laurens will take up his post with HSBC in the next four to six weeks.