CJC Global, the Australian international wealth management firm, added Nick Kalikajaros to its executive board to oversee operations in the Middle East and emerging markets, as well the Asia Pacific, Australia, Europe and North America. He has 21 years of experience in wealth management and private banking, having held senior positions with the likes of Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, St George Bank, and UBS.

ANZ Banking Group officially appointed acting chief economist Warren Hogan to the role permanently after he took over from Saul Eslake in August last year. He was previously head of Australian economics and interest rate research at the bank.

GE Capital, the Australian financial services provider, appointed Skander Malcolm as CEO of GE Capital Australia and New Zealand. He was most recently the managing director of retail solutions for GE.

National Australia Bank appointed Anthony Yuen as a non-executive director of the bank's board. He was previously group managing director, Asia Pacific, for Royal Bank of Scotland. Prior to RBS, he held senior positions at Bank of America and National Westminster Bank, before it merged with RBS in 2000.

HSBC Private Bank expanded Desmond Liu's role as head of China to include oversight of its Hong Kong businesses. He had been head of China since September 2007.

Standard Chartered Private Bank hired Trevor Mak as market head for Hong Kong from Citi Private Bank, where he was managing director and market head. Stella Kong, who was vice chairman at Bank Sarasin, also reportedly joined Standard Chartered as market head for China.

Spain's Banco Santander appointed Alexander de Laiglesia to the newly-created role of head of asset management Asia in Hong Kong to help expand its asset management operations in Asia. Mr de Laiglesia, previously the bank's managing director, has been with the company for 20 years.

Standard Chartered Bank appointed Michael Thomas Pratt as a board director in Hong Kong, succeeding Stefano Paolo Bertamini. Mr Pratt is the head of consumer banking, China, and regional head of consumer banking, North East Asia. Prior to joining Standard Chartered, he was a consultant for KPMG in Australia and held various senior roles in the Bank of New Zealand, the Australian Financial Services and National Australia Bank.

New York-based asset manager Neuberger Berman Group expanded its Hong Kong operations with the creation of two senior roles. Jason Henchman, previously the Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) head of legal and compliance at Legg Mason, is now the Asia-Pacific COO for Neuberger Berman's Hong Kong unit, while Chris Gunns, who was the regional manager for institutional sales and business development at ING Investment Management, is now the firm's head of consultant relations for the region.

ING Investment Management appointed Pranay Gupta to the newly-created role of CIO for its Asia Pacific operations in Hong Kong. Prior to the appointment, Mr Gupta served as deputy CIO for the company's Europe office. He joined ING in 2009 from Pearl Group, where he was deputy chief investment officer.

Credit Suisse appointed Edmond Carton to the newly-created position of ultra high net worth individuals segment head for the Middle East and Indian subcontinent. Based in Geneva, Mr Carton will lead a team of investment partners located across Bahrain, Dubai, Geneva, London and Zurich. Mr Carton joins from a Geneva-based multi-family office, where he served as vice-chairman and member of its executive committee.

India-based Avendus Capital, the institutional financial services firm, appointed two senior executives for its private wealth management business. Ritu Jain was named executive director for Avendus and will be based out of Delhi. She was previously the market director for Morgan Stanley. Kartik Kini joins the team as chief administrative officer from Deutsche Bank, where he was most recently a senior member of the India country management team.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch named Pradeep Dokania as its head of global wealth and investment management for India. He was latterly head of BoAML’s Indian advisory business before being given this newly-created role. His successor at the helm of the advisory business will be Atul Singh, formerly head of Asia-Pacific global wealth and investment management strategy in Singapore.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group will make changes to its board of directors effective 1 April 2010. Haruya Uehara, the deputy chairman and representative director, will become director of the board; Kinya Okauchi, presently director, will take over Mr Uehara's old position; Nobuo Kuroyanagi, president and CEO, will become director; while Katsunori Nagayasu, director, will become the new president and CEO.

The company also cited Takamune Okihara as a candidate for a directorial seat, possibly for the chairmanship role, subject to shareholder approval on the meeting scheduled for June 2010. Retiring directors as of June 2010 are Ryosuke Tamakoshi, Haruya Uehara, and Nobuo Kuronayagi.

Nomura, the Japan-based financial services firm, formed a macro strategy research team as part of its continuing effort to expand in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The new team is complemented by the appointments of Dr Nick Firooyze, joining from Citadel Investment, as head of European interest rates strategy, and Ann Wyman, joining from Citigroup, as head of European emerging markets research. The team will be led by Jim McCormick, the current head of fixed income research for the EMEA region.

Bank of Singapore appointed Robin Heng as managing director for Southeast Asia. He joins from UBS in Singapore and Hong Kong. In his new role, he is responsible for the bank's marketing and business operations in the region and will report to Bahren Shaari, the bank's Southeast Asia head.

Meyado Private Wealth Singapore named Mark Paine as its new managing director. Mr Paine has circulated within the Meyado group for the past 20 years. His most recent position was as managing partner for the Singapore office, which he assumed since 2007. In his new role, he will responsible for further developing the Singapore operations.

Threadneedle moved William Lowndes from London to Hong Kong to become the new head of Asian distribution, while at the same time appointing Jon Allen as deputy head of Asian distribution in Singapore. Mr Lowndes' relocation takes effect 1 April, while Mr Allen joined the firm in 25 January. Mr Lowndes will be responsible for growing Threadneedle's strategic relationships in the region. He takes over from James Campion, who will be leaving the company to pursue other interests. Mr Allen was most recently CEO of Carnelian Capital.

Temasek Holdings, the Singapore state investor, appointed Hsieh Fu Hua as special advisor to CEO Ho Ching. He was the CEO of the Singapore Exchange until last year, having held the post for six years. He joined Temasek as non-executive director at the start of February.

Kong Eng Huat, the managing director of Merrill Lynch International Bank in Singapore, and market managing director for South Asia global wealth management, left the company. He had been with Merrill Lynch since 1989 and was a member of the Asia Pacific Wealth Management Executive Committee.

Jefferies, the global securities and investment banking firm, appointed three senior executives to head its emerging markets group in Singapore. Lance Heatley, previously based in London, was appointed managing director in Singapore to lead the company's emerging markets sales and trading activities in Asia. Jay Lee joins in from Knight Libertas as senior vice president, while Jeremy Lee comes from Royal Bank of Scotland, also as senior vice president; the pair will be responsible for sales of emerging markets debt with Asian customers.

Benedikt Maissen, head of Southeast Asia at Barclays Wealth in Singapore, left the firm. At the time of his departure, details of his next move had yet to emerge.

Barclays Wealth appointed three senior bankers in Singapore, who join the firm from UBS. Vikram Malhotra joins as managing director, head of South Asia. He reports to Srinivas Siripurapu, head of Southeast Asia and South Asia, and market manager, South Asian Community. Prior to joining Barclays Wealth, Mr Malhotra was managing director, country team head, India International Asia at UBS, where he managed a team of Hong Kong and Singapore-based bankers servicing South Asian clients.

Also joining Barclays Wealth from UBS are Jagdish Kale and Rohit Nanani, who join as directors and will be based in Singapore.

RBS Coutts appointed Manfred Liechti as market head, South East Asia, with responsibility for the Singaporean, Malaysian, Indonesian and Thai markets. He was previously managing director and head of financial intermediaries, Asia Pacific at UBS in Singapore. Mr Liechti reports to Paul Davies, head of private banking, South Asia.

Australia's ANZ announced that Wendy Lim and Jos Dijsselhof, both from the RBS, have begun leadership roles in the bank's Asia Pacific, Europe, and America division. Ms Lim is now managing director for retail banking and wealth management. Mr Dijsselhof is now general manager, operations, for Asia Pacific, Europe and America. Both are based in Singapore and report to Alex Thursby, the CEO for Asia Pacific, Europe and America.