Standard Chartered has named Chao Li as its Asia head of bond syndicate, a spokeswoman for the bank confirmed on Tuesday.
The move caps an impressive tenure at Standard Chartered for Li, who has worked at the emerging-markets focused bank since November 2012. He was previously head of greater China bond syndicate, based in Hong Kong. He will remain in the city, allowing Standard Chartered to split its well-regarded bond desk between Hong Kong and Singapore.
Despite his title, Li will not be the most senior syndicate banker for Standard Chartered in Asia. Ashish Malhotra, the bank's Singapore-based head of global syndicate, retains that honour — and it is Malhotra that Li will continue to report to.
Before joining Standard Chartered in November 2012, Li had worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland for about five years. Before starting his banking career, he worked for a software engineering company in San Francisco.
Li has led a number of landmark transactions for Standard Chartered in the past few years, covering both Greater China and wider Northeast Asian clients. He has also been a key part of the bank's renminbi business.
Standard Chartered was ranked fourth in the Asia ex-Japan G3 league table in 2016, underwriting an apportioned $11.9 billion in 85 deals, according to Dealogic. That was an improvement from the bank's sixth place splot the previous year, when it closed $10.87 billion worth of bonds.
