The head of investment banking at one of Singapore's top banks disappeared
Tsiang Wei Foo's tenure at the helm of investment banking at CIMB is Singapore has come to a quiet end.
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Foo was appointed head of investment banking at CIMB in June 2020, when he joined from DBS. He's understood to have left last week. In a statement, CIMB said he resigned. The bank is already advertising for a new head of corporate and investment banking in Singapore and says it wants someone with 10 years' experience to grow P&L while optimizing balance sheet and resources, among many, many other things.
Foo didn't appear to have much success in growing CIMB's investment banking presence during his tenure. Data from Dealogic suggests that while CIMB ranked 53rd for broader Asia-ex-Japan investment banking revenues, with $53m of fees, in 2019, it ranked 62nd with $28m of revenues in 2024. Foo was, however, only responsible for Singapore.
It's not clear who will replace Foo, but the bank is clearly eyeing external candidates.
Aspiring replacements should familiarize themselves with "Forward 23+," CIMB's strategy for APAC domination. Last year, the bank won various awards in Singapore for its investment banking activities, but they don't seem to have been sufficient to retain Foo.
Foo was hired by Victor Lee, CIMB's CEO, after Lee laid off Josandi Thor, Yong Jiunn Run and Lai Ven-Li, who previously headed the consumer banking, commercial banking and corporate banking departments at CIMB. Alongside Foo, Lee promoted Merlyn Tsai as head of consumer banking Singapore and Benjamin Tan Wee Chuan as head of commercial banking Singapore. Tsai and Wee Chuan are still in place.
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