ING names veteran banker new country head

Jun Palanca —Contributed photo

Dutch financial institution ING has named veteran banker Jun Palanca as country head of the Philippines, succeeding Hans Sicat who retired on Dec. 31.

Palanca rejoined ING in May 2022 as head of wholesale banking in the Philippines, armed with over 30 years of experience. As country head, he has overall responsibility for the bank’s business and operations, and continues to report to Anju Abrol, ING’s head of Asia Pacific Wholesale Banking.

Palanca first joined ING’s project finance team from Citibank Philippines in 1996 and was with ING for 10 years before moving to Merrill Lynch, and subsequently to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as regional head of Structured Finance Syndications, Export & Agency Finance and Aviation Finance. In 2016, he was appointed regional head of Loans Distribution Asia and head of Structured Credit Distribution at SMBC.

“Jun’s extensive experience puts him in an excellent position to lead as country head of the Philippines and to continue the momentum in executing the pillars of our Asia Pacific strategy with our sector expertise and global network,” Abrol says.

“We thank Hans for his invaluable contributions for the past five years, particularly in strengthening ING’s relationships with clients through our leading position and expertise in M&A (merger and acquisition) advisory as well as capital markets. Hans has also led the team in positioning ING as the pioneer in sustainable finance and the ‘go-to’ bank on ESG with landmark deals in the country,” adds Abrol.

Sicat joined ING in 2017 from the Philippine Stock Exchange where he served as president and CEO for six years. A trained mathematician and economist, Sicat has been involved in the global capital market for more than three decades and was an investment banker with Citigroup and its predecessor firms (Salomon Brothers & Citicorp Securities) in various roles in New York, Hong Kong and the Philippines for over two decades.