Cristofari, who has been CEO of BNP Paribas in Australia and New Zealand for the past three years, will become head of territory of China based in Shanghai. He will report to Mignonne Cheng, head of north and east Asia, and will be charged with shoring up the bankÆs foothold on the Mainland.
CristofariÆs old post in Sydney is being filled by Mahout who was most recently the CEO of Belgium.
Both men are long-term BNP Paribas bankers. Cristofari joined the bank in 1974 and has held a number of management positions within the group in Europe and North America. Prior to the job in Sydney, he was head of corporate banking in Europe and deputy head of the global corporate group based in France.
Mahout, meanwhile, joined BNP Paribas in 1982.
Jean Clamon, the bankÆs chief operating officer, says both men will contribute significantly to BNP ParibasÆ presence in the Asia-Pacific in corporate and investment banking, asset management, private banking and retail banking. ôCristofariÆs appointment will enable us to focus on expanding our operations to capture the significant opportunities and growth in the Chinese economy,ö says Clamon. ôI am confident he will bring his dedication, managerial skills and energy to his new challenge in China.ö
At the same time, BNP Paribas has appointed Liu Xin (Steven Liu) as head of global risk solutions (GRS) in China.
In this newly created position, Liu will oversee the development, growth and ongoing management of GRS activities in the country. This includes identifying opportunities to deliver GRS, fixed-income solutions and solutions in other areas to Chinese customers. Liu will be based in China and will also be responsible for building and maintaining relationships with high-level officials in the key regulatory bodies which are responsible for the policy-making of the Chinese banking and finance sector.
Liu will report to Denis Autier, the global head of GRS based in London. He will work side-by-side with Eric Nicolas, BNPÆs head of fixed-income Asia-Pacific, and David Pinkerton, head of GRS Asia-Pacific.
For two years from 1989 to 2001, Liu worked with ChinaÆs State Administration of Foreign Exchange as director of the investment division. This tenure gave him valuable experience in understanding Chinese policy and regulations on the financial system.
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