Temasek names top lawyer Lucien Wong as non-executive director

SINGAPORE Feb 21 (Reuters) - Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd has appointed Lucien Wong, a prominent lawyer in the city-state, as a non-executive director in a move which banking sources said could put him in the running to be its next chairman.

Wong, chairman of law firm Allen & Gledhill and a board member at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, will join the investor at the start of March, Temasek said in a statement to Reuters.

Banking sources said his appointment means he could be in contention to become Temasek's next chairman, with incumbent Suppiah Dhanabalan expected to retire in the coming year.

Temasek, which manages about S$198 billion ($160 billion), has made a number of new hires in the past two years including former UBS chief financial officer John Cryan and another former top lawyer Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara.

($1 = 1.2368 Singapore dollars) (Reporting Saeed Azhar; writing by Rachel Armstrong; editing by Mark Potter)