Samir Atassi, managing director and head of markets sales Asia Pacific ex-Japan at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has taken on an expanded role as head of the bank's markets client group for Asia Pacific ex-Japan, a spokeswoman at the bank confirmed.
The promotion took effect last month. The markets client group comprises financial institution sales, corporate sales, primary markets, debt capital markets, loan and bond syndicates, and RBS' coverage of financial institutions.
Atassi assumes the responsibilities previously held by Guy Wylie, who headed primary markets for Asia Pacific at RBS till he left last year to join Australian mobile operator Telstra.
Atassi reports to Pierre Ferland, the bank's Asia-Pacific head of markets, and Madan Menon, Asia-Pacific head of international banking. John Wade, head of debt capital markets and syndicate reports to Atassi.
The move comes as RBS continues to strengthen its business in Asia.
Winston Tay was appointed director and head of bond syndicate for Southeast Asia in January, while Xiao Xiao Sun joined RBS as director of debt capital markets (DCM) Asia, according to the UK-based bank.
Tay, based in Singapore, works on primary market dollar-denominated and local currency debt deals across the Asia region with a strong focus on Southeast Asia. He reports to Alan Roch, head of bond syndicate for Asia Pacific.
In 2013, RBS was ranked seven for Asia ex-Japan in the dollar corporate investment grade bonds. The bank remains committed to growing its business and serving its customers across the currency and product spectrum in what Roch believes will be a very strong bond year for Asia.
The DCM appointments come off the back of a very strong start to the year for Asian bond issuance. According to Dealogic data, Asia ex-Japan G3 bond has already reached $23.6 billion via 34 deals in 2014 as of January 27. This is up 30% year-on-year and the highest year-to-date level on record.
Meanwhile, last year the bank appointed Brijesh Mehra as head of international banking for India and Southeast Asia.
The move added Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to his existing responsibility for international banking in India, which comprises debt financing, transaction services and risk management. He is based in Mumbai.
