China's Minsheng Bank president to retire this year

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Eddie Wang, president of Minsheng Banking Corp (600016.SS), China's first non-state lender, will retire this year and Executive Vice President Hong Qi is expected to replace him, two sources close to the bank's top management said on Monday.

Wang, who was China chief executive of HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) (0005.HK) from 1994 to 2002, took the top position at Minsheng Bank in 2006 as the mid-sized Beijing-based lender hoped to tap his expertise, particularly in consumer banking, as it sought to boost its retail operations.

Wang, 59, has briefed Minsheng Bank Chairman Dong Wenbiao on his plan to retire this year and Dong has agreed in principle, although the board must give formal approval of his departure and replacement, the sources said.

"In many areas, informal handover work has already begun between Wang and Hong," one of the sources said.

The bank, however, has not ruled out seeking an external candidate for the top job, said the sources, who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

A Minsheng spokesman declined to comment.

The hiring of Wang, who was raised in Hong Kong and once worked as a private banker in Beverly Hills, was regarded as a strong signal of China's drive to revamp its financial system, where most top positions at major banks were filled by former government officials with close ties to regulators.

Hong, 51, is currently in charge of Minsheng's loan and credit business.

Last year, he was directly involved in negotiations for Minsheng's investment in San Francisco-based UCBH Holdings UCBH.O.

Minsheng, in which Singapore sovereign fund Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] holds a minority stake, bought 9.9 percent of UCBH for more than $200 million, in the first strategic investment by a mainland Chinese bank in a U.S. bank.

Minsheng also launched a fund management joint venture with Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) early this year, as it seeks to move beyond commercial lending and become a full-range financial services provider.

In the past two years, Wang helped Minsheng to set up its private banking arm, aimed at attracting business from China's growing ranks of millionaires who are also being targeted by foreign banks such as HSBC and Citigroup Inc (C.N).

In July, Wang was ranked by Forbes magazine as China's third highest-paid executive among more than 1,000 Chinese listed companies, with annual income of about 10 million yuan ($1.46 million) in 2007.

Many top executives at state-controlled domestic banks earn about 2 million to 3 million yuan a year, according to company reports and industry executives, although they typically receive generous benefits such as a car and medical coverage.

($1=6.848 Yuan)

(Editing by Edmund Klamann)