On the move
StanChart ASEAN CEO quits over disclosure lapse
Ajay Kanwal, the head of Standard Chartered’s ASEAN and South Asian operations, left the bank after failing to disclose past personal investments. In 24 years with the bank, Kanwal’s roles included managing operations in South Korea, China’s Taiwan and Mongolia as a regional CEO, according to a profile on the bank’s website. He also helped set up its private bank franchise in Singapore. He will be replaced by Anna Marrs, who is already heading commercial and private banking. Marrs will take the additional role subject to regulatory approval, the bank said.
Polat to lead Lufthansa sales in China region
Veli Polat, 48, has been appointed senior director, sales, Greater China Lufthansa Group Airlines. He will be responsible for passenger sales and marketing of Lufthansa German Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Airlines in the region comprising the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan province. Polat will also take care of Lufthansa Group’s sales interests in the Air China joint venture. He was earlier based in New Delhi as Lufthansa Cargo’s regional director for operations in South Asia and the Middle East. In his new role, he succeeds Juerg Christen, who has been appointed head of Switzerland sales.
Wang quits as SEEC Media chair, but will still stay on as editor
Wang Boming has resigned as the board chairman of the Hong Kong-listed publisher SEEC Media Group Ltd, but will remain as the chief editor of the company’s Caijing Magazine, a popular political and business Chinese biweekly. The company’s president, Dai Xiaojing, said there is no successor of Wang yet and that the shake-up won’t affect SEEC’s business operations. Wang studied at Columbia University in New York and worked in Wall Street in the 1980s. He returned to China to co-found the Securities Market Research Design Center and started a series of business media ventures, including Caijing Magazine. Wang is the fourth founder to leave the SEEC board, half of which are now outsiders.
Hu succeeds dad as president of Metersbonwe Group
Hu Jiajia has replaced her father Zhou Chengjian as the president of Metersbonwe Group, the Shanghaibased casualwear apparel manufacturer and retail chain, in a bid to revive the company with new insights. The 30-year-old Hu majored in marketing in the worldleading fashion school Istituto Marangoni, and has held positions in multiple sectors within the company. Founded by Zhou in 1995, Metersbonwe became a household name in China by catering to the young generation’s taste, but has been suffering from declining sales and fierce competition against e-commerce rivals in recent years.
Gary Liu to take over as CEO of SCMP from Jan 3
South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by the Alibaba Group, has appointed Gary Liu as its next chief executive officer, effective from Jan 3, 2017. With a background in digital media, Liu joined the US news aggregator Digg last year as the chief operating officer and was then named its CEO. Prior, he has worked for the Swedish music streaming service Spotify, the New York-based mass media company AOL Inc and Google. The 113-year-old SCMP has been putting extra efforts in its digital transformation since being acquired by Alibaba last year. Liu said in his personal blog that he will help SCMP become the next leading digital media.
Morentin named VP of Warner Bros’ PR department
Public relations veteran Liz Morentin has been named executive vice-president of communications and media, Warner Bros Records. Cameron Strang, chairman and CEO of the company, made the announcement recently. As a member of the company’s senior management team, Morentin will oversee all communications and media efforts for the company’s roster of artists and corporate initiatives. She will report to Peter Gray, executive VP.