China-led AIIB loses vice-president Kyttack Hong
August 31, 2016
China-led AIIB loses vice-president Kyttack Hong
Tom Mitchell and Christian Shepherd in Beijing
China’s premier international development bank has lost one of its five vice-presidents less than nine months after opening its doors for business, according to the institution’s president.
The Beijing-based Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank announced in June that Kyttack Hong, chief risk officer, would take a temporary leave of absence.
Mr Hong, former chairman and chief executive of Korea Development Bank, returned home amid criticism of his record at KDB. Korean auditors have said that Mr Hong failed to adequately supervise KDB-controlled Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, which is under investigation for alleged accounting fraud.
On Thursday, however, AIIB president Jin Liqun confirmed that Mr Hong would not be returning to Beijing and said that the search for a replacement was under way.
“[Mr Hong] understands that the job will not be left vacant for him,” said Mr Jin, who has promised that his bank will be “lean, clean and green”.
“Whatever happened in his own country had nothing to do with [AIIB] here,” Mr Jin added.
Mr Hong could not be reached immediately for comment.
The AIIB’s five vice-president slots were highly sought after by its 57 member countries. The bank’s remaining vice-presidents hail from Germany, India, Indonesia and the UK.
Mr Jin was speaking at a press briefing called to announce that Canada had applied to join the AIIB — the first North American country to do so.
Mr Jin said that Canada’s decision to join would pave the way for its nationals to take senior roles at the AIIB, but declined to say if a Canadian was in the running to replace Mr Hong. In 2013, Canadian Mark Carney was poached by George Osborne, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, to run the Bank of England.
Bill Morneau, Canadian finance minister, who is visiting Beijing with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of this weekend’s G20 leaders summit in Hangzhou, said AIIB membership would “create good jobs and global economic growth”, and was “clearly in Canada’s economic interest”.
Beijing-based AIIB is often seen as China’s answer to the US-led World Bank, and marks the country’s most ambitious foray into financial diplomacy and global economic governance. Jin Liqun, president of AIIB, said that Canada’s application was a “vote of confidence” in the bank.
On Tuesday, Mr Trudeau talked up the importance of Canada investing in infrastructure development during a meeting with Chinese businessmen in Beijing as part of his week-long tour.
New members of the AIIB are only added on a yearly basis, meaning Canada’s application, if successful, will not result in admission until 2017. Countries on the waiting list for ratification include Brazil, Iran, South Africa and the Philippines.
Luxembourg was the first European nation to apply for first member status of the bank.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/43b219ec-6f48-11e6-9ac1-1055824ca907.html#axzz4IyxDGBwZ
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