Royal Bank loses ‘instrumental’ Far East player

By GARETH MACKIE
Published on 08/08/2012 00:00

THE chairman and chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Chinese operations has resigned after little more than a year in the post.

Sherry Liu, who joined from JP Morgan Chase in April 2011, was responsible for overseeing the group’s business strategy in China, but is leaving to pursue “outside interests”.

A spokesman said Liu had played an “instrumental” role at the bank in developing relationships with the Chinese government and regulators, and will stay on in an advisory capacity, although the bank could not confirm how long that role would last.

Alex Chu, head of international banking in north Asia, will chair the board of RBS China and support Qing Cheng Hua, another former JP Morgan banker, who remains as country executive and the bank’s primary contact for regulators.

In April, RBS agreed to sell parts of its investment banking business in the Asia Pacific region to Malaysian group CIMB for around £75 million. But RBS retained its Huaying Securities joint venture with Chinese partner Guolian.

China is the world’s largest market for initial public offerings and the Huaying joint venture – the first in the country to involve a UK bank – aims to tap into the growing investment banking market.

However, the wider economy is under pressure from shrinking global demand and a downturn in the domestic property market, and China’s annual economic growth rate slowed to a three-year low of 7.6 per cent in the three months to June.