By Lawrence White
HONG KONG (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings Plc has hired Jason Rynbeck as its head of mergers and acquisitions for Asia-Pacific, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, a few weeks after he left British rival Barclays Plc.
Rynbeck will join HSBC later this year after a period of leave following his exit from Barclays, one of the people said.
In a separate move, HSBC's head of banking for Asia Pacific Russell Julius will be transferred to a London-based role at the bank, the people said. Julius will work within HSBC's commercial banking division in Europe to encourage corporate clients to use the British lender's investment banking services, the sources added.
A spokesman for HSBC declined to comment on the moves. Julius declined to comment when reached by mobile phone. Calls to Rynbeck's mobile went unanswered.
Rynbeck left Barclays on May 8, Reuters previously reported, amid a global shrinking of the British lender's investment bank.
Rynbeck will replace former Goldman Sachs banker George Davidson in his new role at HSBC. Davidson will become a vice chairman for mergers and acquisitions at HSBC in Asia Pacific, one of the people said.
HSBC last year leapfrogged investment banking rivals including Goldman Sachs to land in the top five for Asian M&A advisory for the first time, boosted by its ability to provide funding for clients and a string of deals in India and Hong Kong.
Since then HSBC has worked on top Asia deals including China's COFCO Corp buying a 51 percent stake in Dutch grain trader Nidera, and Singapore state investor Temasek's investment in Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's A.S. Watson.
HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver is on a drive to draw more commercial banking clients worldwide to increase their investment banking business with the bank.
(Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Miral Fahmy)