WHAMPOA Group on Monday (Jan 22) said that it has appointed veteran banker Edmund Lee as chairman of Singapore Gulf Bank (SGB), its digital bank in Bahrain.

Lee was previously vice-chairman of Asia-Pacific at JPMorgan Chase and Co, where he also served as senior country officer for Singapore. The move comes months after the family office recruited Ali Moosa, JPMorgan’s former regional head and vice-chairman of the central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa businesses, as executive vice-chairman of SGB.

SGB is preparing to launch digital banking services to global customers in early 2024 after recently receiving final approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain. This includes round-the-clock settlement, custody of and connectivity to digital assets, as well as asset management.

In his new role, Lee will help guide the SGB executive leadership team led by Moosa.

Lee is also the founding chairman of Asia Gulf Holdings, SGB’s parent company, which handles Whampoa’s strategic investments in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

Prior to his decade-long stint at JPMorgan, Lee held leadership roles at DBS Vickers Securities, where he was chairman and chief executive. His experience spans corporate and investment banking, asset management as well as private banking.

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