Michael Willoughby, head of Asia Pacific metals and mining investment banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co., is leaving to join British lender Standard Chartered Plc, people familiar with the matter said.
Willoughby has been named co-head of metals and mining for the region at Standard Chartered and will be based in Singapore, the people said, asking not to be identified as the appointment isn't yet public. He'd worked at JPMorgan for more than 20 years.
Willoughby and a representative for Standard Chartered declined to comment. JPMorgan didn't have an immediate comment.
Willoughby's hire is a key move for Standard Chartered as it builds up its business advising mining companies on potential transactions. He'll report to global head of metals and mining Richard Horrocks-Taylor, who the bank hired from Royal Bank of Canada last year, the people said.
Gold deals are driving activity in the sector this year, including Newmont Mining Corp.'s $10 billion deal for Goldcorp Inc. in April, the largest deal in gold mining history, and Barrick Gold Corp.'s $5.4 billion takeover of Randgold Resources Ltd. in January.
(By Dinesh Nair and Vinicy Chan)