Wong quits HSBC to join CS private banking as Greater China head
The chief executive of HSBC’s broking services for Asia, Anna Wong Wai-kwan, has quit and is understood to be joining Credit Suisse’s private banking division as head of Greater China.
It would represent a return to the world of private banking for Wong and so comes as little surprise. Prior to her two-year stint in broking, she had spent 10 years in private banking, including as Hong Kong market head for both BNP Paribas and latterly HSBC Private Bank, where she worked alongside Monica Wong.
The announcement of her exit was made internally at HSBC last week and she is understood to be leaving this month. Multiple sources told AsianInvestor that Wong would be joining Credit Suisse private banking as its Greater China head, and the Swiss bank declined to deny or confirm this.
It would likely mean that Credit Suisse’s Hong Kong market head, Vivian Chan, and Taiwan market head, Orchid Yuen, will report in to Wong when she starts.
“ [Wong] spent two years in broking and it was an excellent experience where she learned a lot about the industry,” notes a source. “She does not regret for one minute her time in broking, but her background is largely in private banking and I think this is where she feels she belongs.”
News of her departure comes shortly after HSBC lost two other senior managers -- Hong Kong CEO Mark McCombe and Asia-Pacific head of wealth management Bruno Lee. It also follows an announcement that the bank plans to cut 3,000 jobs in Hong Kong over the next three years.
As chief of HSBC’s broking services for Asia – a role she took up in November 2009 – Wong managed 300 staff, including 130 salespeople, in a business with more than 10,000 active clients.
It was in this capacity that she was recently appointed to serve on a 12-member committee to advise Hong Kong’s Securities & futures Commission on policy matters related to its regulatory objectives and functions.
“In terms of my contribution, when there is policy change or macro change in the economy and the investment environment, I hope to provide my thoughts on how the SFC might want to react to those changes,” she told AsianInvestor in July. “I would speak for the securities industry and consider how changes in SFC policy and procedure might impact our industry.”
It is initially unclear how her new role with Credit Suisse private banking might impact her role on the advisory committee.
Wong joined HSBC Private Bank in January 2007 and was managing director and business head of the Hong Kong market. She started her career in 1983 and has worked in private banking, corporate banking, commercial banking and credit/risk management for financial institutions including Chase Manhattan bank, Citigroup and BNP Paribas.