Here is a roundup of moves in the Asia wealth management and private banking market for the month of April.

BNP Paribas’ wealth management arm in Hong Kong recruited a former Citi Private Bank figure to its ranks of relationship managers. Matthew Lee has joined the Paris-listed lender and financial services firm.

The firm also made a number of other senior hires. The chief operating officer at BNP Paribas Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Ernest Leung, was appointed to the additional role of chief executive of wealth management, Singapore. He is responsible for building business development and infrastructure support across Asia-Pacific, while continuing to boost franchise growth in Singapore. Leung reports to the chairman and chief executive at BNP Paribas Wealth Management Asia Pacific, Mignonne Cheng, and to the regional head for Southeast Asia and chief executive at BNP Paribas Singapore, Pierre Veyres.

Arnaud Tellier was named head of investment services, Asia-Pacific. He was previously chief executive of wealth management Singapore and brought over 20 years' experience in the banking industry. Based in Singapore, Tellier works with the region's relationship managers to enhance product capabilities. He also reports to Cheng and locally to Leung, as well as to the global head of investment services, Olivier Maugarny. Lastly, Stephanie Lair, previously head of investment services, Asia-Pacific, was appointed head of Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Based in Singapore, she leads business development in these markets, taking the reins from Serge Forti, who recently retired. Lair will report to Cheng and Leung.

Sydney-headquartered investment manager AMP Capital appointed Damian Stanley as principal of investments, capital infrastructure equity team, in London. Stanley joined the team as principal of investments and will report to AMP Capital's head of origination for Europe, Simon Ellis.

Bank of China (Hong Kong) appointed Sui Yang as chief executive. Yang has been chief financial officer at the Hong Kong-listed group since August 2014. She joined Bank of China almost two decades ago and has since held a number of roles including deputy general manager of financial management.

Richard Straus, a senior figure at Citi Private Bank, has resurfaced at Swiss private bank Julius Baer to hold the role of market head for Taiwan. Based in Hong Kong, Straus reports to Wilson So, head of Greater China at the Zurich-listed lender. Straus had most recently been head of family office and institution business in Asia-Pacific at Citi Private Bank. Before that, he was market head for Taiwan at Citi, based in Hong Kong, for four years. His 28-year career at Citi saw him hold major roles such as chief financial officer, chief administrative officer and chief operating officer in Japan, New York, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Nomura rejigged its global management team, assigning three seniors to new leadership roles in Europe and Asia. Nomura's executive chairman for EMEA, Yasuo Kashiwagi, was named co-head of global markets. He returned to Tokyo and will work alongside the head of global markets, Steve Ashley, to drive client business and boost cross-regional collaboration. Minoru Shinohara, the chief executive for Asia (excluding Japan), moved to London to take the reins from Kashiwagi as executive chairman for EMEA. 

Toshiyasu Iiyama was appointed as Shinohara's successor. Bringing experience in investment banking and fixed income, Iiyama focuses on the growth of Nomura’s franchise in Asia ex-Japan.

UBS brought a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch investment banking head in Singapore across to its wealth management arm. James Yeo, who has a 20-year banking career, holds the role of senior client advisor at UBS.

BlackRock appointed a new chairman and Japan country head, Yoshiyuki Izawa. He filled a vacancy left by Masato Degawa, who retired as BlackRock president and country head for Japan. Izawa joined BlackRock from Japan Post Bank, where he was president and chief executive for more than five years, leading a 13,500-strong team managing $1.7 trillion in assets. He has had a 38-year career with Mitsui & Co, where his most recent roles were as representative director and member of the board, senior executive managing officer and chairman of the investment committee. In addition, he held senior leadership positions in Mitsui’s US and Europe regions.

Degawa returned to London to rejoin his family, which resided there during his four-plus-year tenure in Tokyo.

AMP Capital named John Angell as its head of distribution for the UK and Europe. This role was newly created while Richard Shields now focuses solely on the Middle East in his role as AMP Capital managing director, Middle East. Based in London, Angell is also responsible for the sales of AMP Capital’s global listed infrastructure and global REITs capabilities as well as its unlisted infrastructure and hedge funds in the region. Angell reports to AMP Capital's chief executive for international, Anthony Fasso. Angell most recently ran his own consultancy business.

Julius Baer hired UBS's Parminder Soin as market head for the Indian subcontinent and non-resident Indian in Singapore markets. Soin joined after a decade with UBS Singapore, where he was head of the ultra-high net worth desk and deputy country head of private wealth management. Before this, he held a number of roles during a 15-year spell at Deutsche Bank, including head of private banking for New Delhi, private banking head for North and East India and senior relationship manager of private banking in Singapore.

In his new role, Soin is responsible for driving the bank’s business for NRI clients. He reports to Julius Baer's global head of the Indian subcontinent and non-resident Indian markets, Rolf Schaerer. Soin replaced Daniel Maag, who was appointed as senior client partner to manage key client relationships. Maag led the ISC and NRI team out of Singapore for the past 15 months.

Swiss private bank Lombard Odier appointed David Loo as head of private clients for North Asia. Based in Hong Kong, Loo reports directly to Vincent Magnenat, head of private banking in Asia-Pacific. The role is a newly created one and it consolidates the North Asia markets. Previously the market heads reported directly to Magnenat.

A veteran banker with more than 20 years of experience in the Hong Kong financial sector, Loo joined from Citi Private Bank, where he spent over a decade in various roles, including as team head for Hong Kong and head of investment counselling for the Philippines and Greater China. Prior to joining Citi Private Bank, Loo worked at Coutts, UBS Private Bank and Bank of America Trust Co.

AXA Investment Managers appointed Francisco Arcilla as head of Japan. Arcilla reports to Christophe Coquema, global head of client group at AXA IM. He replaced Mikifumi Watanabe, who was due to retire on 30 June after having led the Japanese office for 10 years. Arcilla joined AXA IM in 2011 as global head of its funds of hedge funds team. Most recently, he was director of product development at AXA Rosenberg.

Private equity firm KKR recruited a former deputy governor of India’s central bank to its ranks, holding the post of industry advisor. Anand Sinha held his deputy governor post at the Reserve Bank of India from January 2011 to January 2014, capping a 37-year career at the institution. His role included regulation of commercial banks and non-banking institutions.

Credit Suisse Private Banking in the Asia-Pacific region added a team leader for Indonesia. Suvien Long was the former desk head, Indonesia, at Societe Generale.

Australia-headquartered investment group AMP Capital appointed Kylie O’Connor as fund manager for the AMP Capital Diversified Property Fund, a A$4.2 billion ($3.24 billion) portfolio. She previously worked for Lend Lease, a global property and infrastructure investment firm.

Baring Asset Management hired HSBC's Edmund Chong as head of sales, client service and business development – distribution, Asia excluding Japan. Chong joined from his position as head of sales, wholesale business at HSBC Asset Management. Based in Hong Kong, he reports to Barings' chief executive for Asia excluding Japan, Gerry Ng. He has previously held roles at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, SG Asset Management and Franklin Templeton.

Cayman Islands-headquartered Cedrus Investments hired Mohamed Fahmy, a former consul general of Egypt in Hong Kong and Macao, as executive director. He previously worked as director of China affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Egypt, and is well-versed in Middle Eastern/Chinese bilateral relationships. He served in an array of global locations, including Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Hong Kong.

Manulife International, part of Canadian financial services group Manulife, promoted 16 agency leaders to new positions in Asia. Samy Chan and Stella Leung were made regional directors. Chan joined Manulife in 1999 and was the district manager of the year with highest recruitment in 2009 and senior district director of the year with highest growth in 2011.

Leung, meanwhile, joined Manulife in 2009. She has won awards from the General Agents and Managers Association, in particular achieving its Frontline Leader Award (Silver) this year and its International Management Award (Diamond) in 2014. A frequent MDRT and overseas conference qualifier, she was named senior district director of the year with highest growth and recruitment in 2014.

There were promotions also for Clement Lam, Vernon Cheuk, Kam-Wing Tong, Raymond Wong, Sam Ho, Mary Shuk and May Wong, all of whom have been appointed as senior district directors. Dennis Wai, Mendy Fan, Bon Chiu, Becky Wong, Derek Chow, Victor Kuan and Daniel Tang have been promoted to the position of district director.

BOC Hong Kong announced that Zhu Shumin resigned as non-executive director and ceased to be a member of the risk committee and the strategy and budget committee of the company and its principal operating subsidiary, Bank of China (Hong Kong). The resignation was due to Zhu’s change of job; he confirmed that he has no dispute with the board and no matters that have to be put to shareholders’ attention.

Grosvenor, the privately-owned international property group, appointed a former senior UBS executive, Benjamin Cha, as its Asia-Pacific chief executive for the group’s Asia-based proprietary arm. He took over from Nicholas Loup, who moved on from the company. Loup set up the Asia business in Hong Kong in 1994; operations have since expanded to Tokyo and Shanghai. Prior to joining Grosvenor, Cha worked at UBS Global Asset Management as managing director, head of global real estate for Greater China and co-CEO of UBS/Gemdale, a UBS joint venture real estate private equity platform in China.

A senior private banker at JP Morgan in Singapore, Harjeet Singh, left the US firm. Singh, an executive director at the firm, was a specialist in the India-focused market.

Bank of Singapore made a raft of promotions to its private banking teams. Robin Heng, market head for Indonesia, was elevated to global market head for Indonesia. Heng Yeow Kwang was appointed to market head for Indonesia, reporting to Heng. Separately, David Ang was appointed to deputy market head for Indonesia, also reporting to Heng.

Derrick Tan, market head for Malaysia, was appointed to global market head for Malaysia, Japan and NRI clients. Max Yeo was appointed to market head for Malaysia, reporting to Tan, Bank of Singapore. Olivier Denis expanded his role as global market head to include Thailand/Indochina, in addition to Singapore and international. The Singapore teams are led by two market heads, Jeffrey Tan and Rodney Sim, who both report to Denis.

BOC Hong Kong appointed Li Jiuzhong as executive director, including of its principal subsidiary, Bank of China (Hong Kong). Li was the chief risk officer of the firm and its subsidiaries from March 2010; he is also director of Nanyang Commercial Bank, Nanyang Commercial Bank (China), BOC Credit Card (International) and BOC Group Life Assurance Company. He has worked in the banking sector for more than 30 years, joining Bank of China in 1983, and going on to hold a variety of roles.