Standard Chartered has appointed Cristian Jonsson as its new global head of loan syndications, taking effect next year. He will continue to be based in Singapore and report to Carsten Stoehr, global head of capital markets.
Jonsson, who hails from Sweden, succeeds Philip Cracknell, who will retire from the bank at the end of March 2013. In the new role Jonsson will lead a team responsible for developing Standard Chartered’s global loan syndications business — an integral part of the capital markets business. There are some 80 to 90 bankers within loan origination and syndication at Standard Chartered, so this is a bigger role for him.
Cracknell, a long-time loan banker who played a key role in building up the bank’s lending franchise in the region during the past two decades, will be retiring and plans to spend his time divided between the UK and Hong Kong, and travelling — as well as pursuing other interests, including military history and taking long walks in England.
Jonsson joined the bank as global head of bond syndicate in August 2009, having previously worked at UBS. The loans business is one that Standard Chartered is focusing on. At a time when European banks are retreating, it has been expanding its balance sheet in the region.
"Standard Chartered's loan syndication business is the foundation of our global capital markets business and we continue to grow despite the more challenging market backdrop," Stoehr told FinanceAsia. “Globally, loan volumes are down 25%, but Asian loan volumes are only down 11% this year — and it is the better performing of all regional loan markets. In fact, Asian loan volumes are larger than European loan volumes for the first time ever this year.”
Jonsson currently also holds responsibilities as regional head of capital markets for Southeast Asia, a role he assumed after Ling Peng-meng left the bank in September this year. He will continue to hold that role and be responsible for the Southeast Asian capital markets business across loans, bonds and structured finance.
Aaron Russell-Davison, who is currently head of Asian debt syndicate, will become the new head of global bond syndicate. Russell-Davison joined Standard Chartered in 2009, having previously worked at Credit Suisse.
In his new role, which also takes effect next year, Russell-Davison will join the bank’s capital markets management committee. He will continue to be based in Singapore. Standard Chartered is expected to appoint a new head of Asian debt syndicate in time. According to Dealogic data, Standard Chartered is placed sixth in G3 league tables for Asia excluding Japan, having raised $9.3 billion.
