Standard Chartered's new Hong Kong chief May Tan eyes China growth

Finding fresh revenue growth externally through its solid corporate and commercial banking roots in Hong Kong ranks as the top priority on the to-do list of Standard Chartered's first female chief executive in Hong Kong.

May Tan, who took on the top job at the start of this month, joined the emerging markets-focused bank in 2009 through its takeover of the Asian unit of British broker Cazenove, which underwrote the bank's Hong Kong listing in 2002.

In an interview, she laid out her vision for the future, highlighting opportunities in the mainland's nascent capital markets and fast-growing yuan business as the engines of profit, since trading conditions in financial markets have been tough.

The mainland economy and its developing capital market offered lots of new business for the bank in both equity and bond offerings, said Tan, who gained a wealth of knowledge about regional financial markets as Cazenove's Asia chief for more than a decade from 1993.

In a gradual shift to an advice-driven, fee-based model, Tan said new business from medium-sized initial public offerings of mainland firms, the rollout of preference shares and the undeveloped bond market in Hong Kong seemed the most promising given the bank's strong network of corporate clients.

"My experience in capital markets helps me understand the dynamics and client needs better," said Tan, who orchestrated a successful integration between the commercial bank and equity broker in 2008 when the collapse of Lehman Brothers almost brought down the global financial system.

"It was an honourable deal since Standard Chartered did not change its bid price for Cazenove even after the Lehman crisis," said Tan, who managed 200 regional staff for the broker.