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RHB Is Said to Lose Two Senior M&A Bankers in Latest Departures

RHB Is Said to Lose Two Senior M&A Bankers in Latest Departures

(Bloomberg) -- RHB Bank Bhd. is losing two of its most senior mergers and acquisitions bankers, the latest in a series of exits from Malaysia’s fifth-largest lender by market value, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Head of M&A Soon Poh Lean has quit his Kuala Lumpur-based role at RHB, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Soon had been with the bank since March 2015, his LinkedIn profile shows. Theresa Lim, a key lieutenant to Soon who’s a director on the M&A team, is also leaving RHB, the people said.

RHB has seen several moves in its senior ranks since last year as it shifted strategy, combining its institutional equities and equity capital markets business and scrapping plans to merge with AMMB Holdings Bhd. It ranked sixth among advisers on M&A deals involving Malaysian companies last year, with a 5.4 percent market share, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The bank has been hiring for its Singapore-based asset management unit amid some recent resignations. Ng Hweejan, who is regional head of equity research, and Felix Ho, a senior portfolio manager in Hong Kong, are leaving the firm, the people with knowledge of the matter said.

A representative for RHB declined to comment on the departures.

Tan Jee Toon joined RHB Asset Management last month as chief investment officer of Asia Pacific equities, the firm said in an emailed response to Bloomberg queries. Tan most recently worked at Amundi Asset Management, where he had been since January 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile.

RHB Asset Management has hired several others for its regional team in Singapore over the past two months, including Geraldine Eu, who previously worked at BNP Paribas SA and HSBC Holdings Plc’s private bank. Other additions include Kris Yap, who did stints at the asset-management arms of Cargill Inc. and Louis Dreyfus Co., and Terrence Tey, who has worked at RWC Partners and APS Asset Management, it said in the statement.

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrea Tan in Singapore at atan17@bloomberg.net, Elffie Chew in Kuala Lumpur at echew16@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, Sam Mamudi at smamudi@bloomberg.net, Peter Vercoe

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