Banks are boosting Singapore jobs at expense of Hong Kong

by David Rothnie

    2 hours ago

International banks are hiring more talent in Singapore as they continue expanding their presence outside Hong Kong.

“Every bank I speak to is looking to increase their footprint in South East Asia and that means hiring or locating more bankers in Singapore,” says one headhunter based in Hong Kong.

The shift began as a result of Hong Kong’s Covid restrictions, but now bankers say it’s more permanent. “In the past big banks have located specific country or product bankers in Singapore, while locating industry teams in Hong Kong, but this is changing,” the headhunter said.

In particular, as Singapore attracts more fintech companies, so bankers with relevant expertise are starting to follow their clients.

For example, Jwalant Nanavati, head of the Asia ex-Japan technology, media and telecom (TMT) team at Nomura is moving to from Hong Kong to Singapore where he will run the Japanese bank’s Southeast Asian investment banking business

Last month, Sophie Qian relcoated from New York to Singapore as head of equity capital markets for Southwest Asia.

One bank actively hiring in South East Asia is Jefferies. This month, David Biller swapped London for Singapore after joining from Citigroup as Jefferies' head of Southeast Asia.

Biller is being reunited with Christopher Laskowski, who joined Jefferies from Citi a year ago as head of Asia investment banking in Hong Kong.  “Biller will be building a team,” said one source close to the bank. “But there is limited talent locally, so you could see even more bankers relocate.”

後話

這情況已經出現了幾年，而近年更明顯和加速了。