Barclays appoints Ee-Ching Tay as head of South-east Asia banking

BARCLAYS has appointed Tay Ee-Ching as its new head of South-east Asia banking.

With over 20 years of experience in investment banking in the US and Asia, Ms Tay will be responsible for further growing Barclays' banking franchise in South-east Asia, with a focus on driving mergers & acquisitions (M&A) advisory and financing, the bank said in a press statement on Monday. She will be based in Singapore.

Ms Tay was the managing director and head of South-east Asia M&A at JPMorgan in Singapore, and prior to that, she was an executive director in the M&A team at UBS in New York. She has a record in M&A and capital raisings worth over US$100 billion across a wide range of sectors, Barclays said.

In her role, she will also lead and cultivate the bank's most senior client relationships and manage the team covering key corporate clients, financial institutions, financial sponsors and government agencies in the region.

Ms Tay is taking over from Sandeep Pahwa, who has led Barclays South-east Asia banking since November 2010. Mr Pahwa will continue to serve as the vice-chairman and head of Asia-Pacific client coverage at Barclays.

Vanessa Koo, head of banking for Asia-Pacific and Greater China at Barclays, said: "Southeast Asia is strategically important to Barclays as a dynamic high-growth region. Indeed, Ee-Ching's appointment demonstrates our continued commitment to invest for growth in areas where we see exciting opportunities, supporting Barclays' regional and global businesses. Her extensive transactional expertise and deep local knowledge will bring substantial value to our clients."