ING appoints Jun Palanca as country manager for the Philippines

Manila, Philippines, 6 January 2023 – ING today announced the appointment of Jun Palanca as country manager of the Philippines, succeeding Hans Sicat, who retired on 31 December 2022.

Jun rejoined ING in May 2022 as head of Wholesale Banking in the Philippines, bringing over 30 years of industry experience. As country manager, he assumes overall responsibility for the bank’s business and operations in the Philippines, and continues to report to Ms Anju Abrol, CEO and head of Wholesale Banking for ING Asia Pacific.

Jun first joined ING’s project finance team in 1996 from Citibank Philippines, spending a decade with the bank before moving on to Merrill Lynch and subsequently to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). At SMBC, he served 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.

Hans joined ING in 2017 from the Philippine Stock Exchange, where he served as president and CEO for six years. A trained mathematician and economist, Hans has been active in global capital markets for more than three decades, having held various investment banking roles at Citigroup and its predecessor firms—Salomon Brothers and Citicorp Securities—in New York, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

“We thank Hans for his invaluable contributions over the past five years, particularly in strengthening ING’s client relationships through our leading position in M&A advisory and capital markets. He also led the team in positioning ING as a pioneer in sustainable finance and the ‘go-to’ bank for ESG, delivering landmark deals in the country,” said Anju.

“Jun’s extensive experience puts him in an excellent position to lead as country manager of the Philippines and to continue driving our Asia Pacific strategy forward, leveraging our sector expertise and global network,” she added.