Succeeding Hans Sicat as country manager of ING in the Philippines is Jun Palanca, a banking veteran who returned to ING middle of last year.

Palanca has over 30 years of banking experience working in companies like Merrill Lynch and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC). As country head, he has overall responsibility for the ING’s business and operations in the Philippines.

“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,” said Anju Abrol, head of Wholesale Banking Asia Pacific at ING.

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Palanca will continue to report directly to Abrol.

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 SMBC 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. In May 2022, he joined ING Philippines again as head of its Wholesale Banking unit.

Hans Sicat

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.

“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 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,” said Abrol.