HSBC Philippines appoints new country head

HSBC Philippines will have a new country head next August replacing the current chief operating officer, Mark Watkinson.

Austrialian Tony Cripps, a 20-year banking veteran, will take over the helm of the British-owned HSBC Philippines.

Watkinson is moving on to Canada as the bank's executive vice president for commercial banking operations, and president for Central and Eastern Canada.

Cripps said he is optimistic that HSBC’s corporate banking business will profit from planned domestic infrastructure spending over the next five years and from accelerated activities in neighboring China where some $40 billion to $50 billion had been earmarked for that country’s own infrastructure buildup.

The bank helped arrange San Miguel Corporation’s P38-billion bond sale to fund a shift from its core manufacturing business to power distribution and infrastructure-related activities.

Such spending should help boost the country’s accelerating per capita income, according to Watkinson. “This provides us with greater optimism about banking in the Philippines in general."

Retail subsidiary HSBC Savings will service the National Capital Region where the concentration of wealth is 2.5 times higher than the national average. - VS, GMANews.TV