HSBC has appointed Mr. Alex Hungate as the new chief executive of its Singapore operations starting on September 1.
Mr. Hungate, who is currently the global head of personal financial services and marketing at HSBC London, takes the place of Mr. Guy Harvey-Samuel, who will move to Hong Kong to help supervise the Asia-Pacific operations of the bank.
According to HSBC’s 2009 annual report, HSBC Singapore earned a US$542 million pre-tax profit, making the country one of the three biggest contributors to Asia-Pacific earnings of the group after mainland China and Hong Kong.
Mr. Hungate spent more than a decade at international news agency Reuters, working in the US, the UK and Hong Kong before joining HSBC in September 2007. His roles at Reuters included worldwide chief marketing officer, co-chief executive of Reuters America, and most recently, managing director of Reuters Asia-Pacific.
Meanwhile, Mr. Harvey-Samuel, the head and CEO of HSBC Singapore since August 2006, will oversee HSBC’s operations in 12 Asia-Pacific countries. He will still report to Mr. Peter Wong, the overall head of HSBC Asia-Pacific, also based in Hong Kong.
Currently, HSBC conducts operations in 22 markets across the Asia-Pacific region, including its two largest markets, mainland China and Hong Kong.