Former HSBC Greater China head Helen Wong joins Singapore’s OCBC Bank where she will oversee corporate, investment banking
- Wong, whose departure from HSBC in August surprised the market, will join OCBC next month as deputy president and head of global wholesale banking
- It’s a homecoming for Wong, who started her 35-year career at OCBC Bank, the longest established bank in Singapore
Former HSBC Greater China chief executive Helen Wong Pik-kuen, who surprised the market last summer when she quit the largest bank in Hong Kong and Europe, has landed a senior role at Singapore-based OCBC Bank, according to a company announcement.
Wong, 58, will be OCBC Bank’s deputy president and head of global wholesale banking, with effect from February 3. She will oversee all banking relationships with companies, and handle two product units – cash management and trade, and the investment banking business.
The veteran banker, who has 35 years of experience, has helped many of HSBC’s mainland Chinese customers expand their businesses in Southeast Asia to escape the impact of the US-China trade war. She is seen as an expert on the Southeast Asian region, according to analysts.
Wong will report to OCBC group chief executive officer Samuel Tsien.
“Helen is widely regarded as a top female banker in Hong Kong with deep Greater China experience and extensive market knowledge. Given her breadth of experience and exposure, we are delighted to have Helen join our senior management team,” Tsien said in a statement as the bank announced Wong’s appointment.
Wong’s move to OCBC Bank is something of a homecoming. She started her career with OCBC Bank in 1984 when she joined as a trainee, and a year later was made the bank’s first China desk manager, based in its Hong Kong branch, according to OCBC.
