Dutch financial institution ING has named Jun Palanca as new country head of the Philippines, succeeding Hans Sicat who has retired on Dec. 31, 2022.
Palanca re-joined 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 in the Philippines, and continues to report to Anju Abrol, ING’s head
of Wholesale Banking Asia Pacific.
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
Corporation (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.
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.
“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,” noted Abrol.