The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (“RBS”) announces a significant boost to its Corporate Sectors & Advisory business in Asia Pacific with a series of senior appointments. Richard Griffiths, Ivan Li and Tammy Wan join ABN AMROs M&A team as Corporate Executive Directors and Michael Niederberger joins the Corporate Finance Group as Corporate Director.
In addition, Peter Schulz, previously with ABN AMRO TMT sector coverage team in London, has relocated to Hong Kong to join the Asia M&A team as Executive Director, while Francois Cohas, previously with ABN AMRO Merchant Bank unit, also joined the team as Executive Director.
All of these new appointments are based in Hong Kong and will be part of RBSs newly formed Corporate Sectors & Advisory Group, of which M&A is a key component. The group combines M&A, Corporate Finance and the Corporate Financing & Risk Solutions Group. Together with five sector teams in one integrated platform this will allow customers to fully leverage value of the bank’s strong sector knowledge and cross-border global advisory capabilities.
“I am delighted to have these senior bankers join our team,” says Richard Orders, head of the corporate sectors & advisory group for Asia Pacific. “They bring substantial experience in both M&A origination and execution across Asia Pacific and are a great addition to the existing strength of our corporate finance franchise. We have a strong track record in M&A/Corporate Finance in Asia and continue to see significant opportunity for this business. The further expansion of the team demonstrates our commitment to ensure we remain at the leading edge of M&A in Asia.”
Griffiths rejoins ABN AMRO after a year at US boutique M&A firm Houlihan Lokey in Hong Kong where he was Director of Corporate Finance responsible for leading the origination and execution of corporate finance in the region. Prior to that, he was an Executive Director in ABN AMROs Corporate Finance teams in Hong Kong and London where he led a number of complex and high profile M&A deals. Griffiths has 10 years of corporate finance experience, he is a UK qualified chartered accountant and a graduate of Durham University with a BA (Hons) in Economics.
Li joins from US investment bank Lazard in Hong Kong, where he was a Director responsible for Asia origination and execution focusing on cross-border and structured finance transactions. Prior to that, from 2000-2006, Li worked at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong in the Investment Banking Group as part of the energy & power sector. He holds a BSc in Mathematics (1st Hons) from the University of Leeds.
Wan brings with her more than ten years of M&A experience. Prior to joining the RBS group, Wan worked at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, where she was a Director in Corporate Finance and Advisory focusing on Greater China origination and execution of M&A transactions. Wan also worked for HSBC from 1999 2000 as a Director of International Mergers and Acquisitions in Hong Kong, and previously as an Assistant Director in the Corporate Finance team of Schroders Asia Limited. Wan is a qualified attorney-at-law and holds a law degree from the New York University School of Law and an MA & BA from Oxford University in Jurisprudence.
Niederberger rejoins from JP Morgan Chase in HK where he worked in the Investment Banking Group. He previously worked in the ABN AMRO Corporate Finance team in Hong Kong from 2004-2006. Prior to that, Niederberger also worked for Goldman Sachs in the US and UK for four years. He holds a BA in International Relations from University of Pennsylvania.