BNY Mellon has highlighted its commitment to the Asian region with the appointment of Daniel Smith as chief administrative officer for the Asia Pacific region.

Smith joined BNY Mellon in 1987 and was most recently the chief administrative officer of the firm's $22.4 trillion asset servicing, custody and administration business. He takes over from Lee Stephens, who has been relocated to the US to assume another executive role at the firm's Washington, DC office.

In his new role, Smith will be based in Hong Kong and will spearhead growth initiatives in the region, where the company has 16 offices across 12 countries. He will report to Chris Sturdy, the chairman for the Asia Pacific region.

"We are expanding ambitiously but methodically across Asia in both of our core businesses, asset management and securities servicing.  Over the longer term, we expect Asia to be a much larger percentage of our bottom line as the region is a key engine of growth for our company," Sturdy said in a statement.

BNY Mellon operates full-service branches in Melbourne, Sydney, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul and Taipei, and has over 5,000 employees.