AMTD International gets new CEO, chairman, vice-chairman

INVESTMENT banking firm AMTD International, which is dual-listed in New York and Singapore, has promoted William Fung to chief executive officer (CEO), succeeding Calvin Choi.

This is in addition to Mr Fung's current position of group vice-president of the company's parent, Hong Kong-based AMTD Group.

Mr Fung was AMTD International's chief investment officer and head of asset management.

Meanwhile, Mr Choi, who was also AMTD International's chairman, and the vice-chairman Andrew Chiu will step down from the company's board.

Both men had led the company's listings on the New York Stock Exchange in August 2019 and on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in April 2020.

Replacing them are independent directors Feridun Hamdullahpur and Gao Yu as the new chairman and vice-chairman respectively, the mainboard-listed firm said in a bourse filing early Thursday morning.

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This new board structure, largely made up of independent directors, is part of the company's efforts to "embrace the highest corporate governance standards and to differentiate its franchise as a 'glocal' brand", said Dr Hamdullahpur.

The company added that Mr Choi relinquished his positions at AMTD International so as to "focus his time and efforts on the strategies and future development plans of the overall AMTD Group".

Mr Choi remains the group's chairman and CEO. He will focus on developing its businesses in Asia spanning digital services and solutions, K-12 education, property and hotel investments, and professional services.

On Thursday, Mr Fung said that despite the global Covid-19 pandemic, AMTD International has achieved "another strong year both financially and in terms of continuous business development and expansion".

The company's assets under management have grown by some 185 per cent since 2017 to exceed US$3.5 billion as at June 30, 2020. In investment banking, AMTD International has executed over 100 international capital markets transactions in the past two years, raising more than US$22 billion in proceeds for Asian clients, Mr Fung added.

Separately, an AMTD Group-led consortium had applied for a digital wholesale bank licence in Singapore, but did not succeed in clinching it in December. The consortium included Xiaomi Finance, peer-to-peer lending platform Funding Societies and Singapore utilities provider SP Group.

Shares of AMTD International on SGX were flat at S$17 as at 9.03am on Thursday.