Taiwanese Bank Taps Industry Veteran to Lead its U.S. Operations

Chinatrust Bank has tapped a veteran banker to become its president and chief executive.

Noor Menai will oversee the bank's U.S. operations, which include 12 branches and groups that handle commercial-and-industrial and commercial real estate lending, the bank said in a press release Wednesday. 

Menai will continue to manage the North American operations of the bank's Taiwanese parent, Chinatrust Commercial Bank.  He joined Chinatrust in 2011 as the head of governance and retail banking for several countries, including the United States and Canada. 

Chinatrust Bank had $1.5 billion in assets and branches in New York, New Jersey and California at Sept. 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Menai "is a proven leader who will take Chinatrust Bank USA to the next level," C.C. Tung, the bank's chairman, said in the release. "He brings an impressive track record with banking's premier brands and he'll take a 'hands-on' approach to expanding business, practicing sound risk management, increasing productivity, and delivering strong results."

Before joining Chinatrust, Menai worked in private equity and asset management.  He helped form Fajr Capital, an investment vehicle backed by sovereign wealth funds. He once was the president and chief executive of Charles Schwab Bank, where he helped relaunch a deposit platform targeting brokerage customers.  He also spent nine years with Citigroup North America. 

This is the second change in Chinatrust Bank's U.S. team in the last year. Early last year, the bank hired  Brian Gregson, a former HSBC executive, as its head of retail banking.