HSBC Singapore has appointed Mr Kanakanjan Ray as head of financial institutions group, South-east Asia - a newly created role in the Hong Kong-listed bank's global banking and markets division.

Mr Ray will be responsible for driving the lender's coverage of financial institution clients across its South-east Asian markets - Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam - encompassing banks, brokers, stock exchanges and insurance companies.

Singapore-based Mr Ray joined HSBC in 2004 and has since held senior roles across multiple markets, with a specific focus on relationship management, sales and client servicing.

He has been based here since 2014. Before joining HSBC, Mr Ray worked with ICICI Bank in Mumbai.

He graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and has a Bachelor of Information Technology degree from Delhi University.

The appointment is part of HSBC Singapore's three-year plan - launched last year - to further build its Asean credentials and regional coverage from Singapore.

The bank has made several key Asean appointments in its wholesale banking business over the last year and had increased its headcount in business banking by 30 last year to drive growth in small and medium-sized enterprise lending.

HSBC Singapore plans to grow its headcount across the entire business by more than 10 per cent over the three-year period as part of its plan to increase market share.