Elaine Lam assumes role of OCBC's head of global corporate banking

OCBC Bank has appointed a new head of global corporate banking following the previous head's retirement.

In a release issued on Tuesday, the bank said Elaine Lam Su Yen, 44, was appointed with effect from April 15, following George Lee's retirement after 16 years with the bank.

In this new role, Ms Lam is responsible for OCBC's corporate banking business which includes wholesale corporate marketing, China business office, real estate, global commodities finance as well as the bank's corporate banking business in all overseas offices.

Ms Lam has over two decades of experience in corporate banking. She joined OCBC 15 years ago as a relationship manager.

In June 2006, she became head of wholesale corporate banking, a position she held for nine years.

During this time, she was instrumental in deepening OCBC's corporate banking customer franchise and led the team to consistently deliver strong results, said the release.

In 2011, she spearheaded the set-up of the regional structured/project finance business to capitalise on the growing opportunities in utilities and infrastructure finance in the region.

Ms Lam also set up OCBC's China office business in 2012, which positioned the bank to capture the increasing flows from China into Singapore and the region.

Mr Lee, 63, was appointed head of global corporate banking in February 2012. He had joined the bank in July 1999 as head of capital markets, bringing with him 33 years of experience in the financial services industry.

Among several leadership roles during his tenure with the bank, he was made head of corporate and institutional banking in November 2001, and head of group investment banking in October 2002. He was promoted to executive vice-president in October 2005.