Standard Chartered has hired a former Westpac executive to run its northeast Asian and Chinese consumer division. And employment experts believe that Big Four bankers have an increasingly strong reputation in Asia because their firms are comparatively unscathed by the financial crisis.

Stan Chart has appointed Mike Pratt – who ran Westpac’s consumer business until December 2007 – to its most important divisional role. Two of his former Westpac colleagues, James Galloway and Patrick Eltridge, are already heading up marketing and IT respectively at Stan Chart’s consumer unit.

Is Standard Chartered alone in its growing taste for Big Four backgrounds? Perhaps not.

“The fact that the big Australian banks are still successful will influence Asian banks’ recruitment. This is especially so for senior roles where the Australian candidate under consideration is personally credited for some of this success,” says Warren Price, managing director of Select Personnel.

Andrew Blades, general manager of Bradman Recruitment Group, adds: “Asian firms will view bankers from the Big Four as untarnished by the financial crisis, unlike someone coming out of a global bank in London who probably hasn’t been that busy recently.”

But although Asian banks are becoming more open to recruiting from Australian firms, the Aussie bankers they poach must have also worked overseas earlier in their careers.

“If you don’t have foreign experience, you will struggle to get a role in Asia in the current market. Working in a major financial centre means you’ve had exposure to larger trades and larger turnovers,” explains Blades.

He adds that in general, Australian financial professionals are still keen on opportunities in Hong Kong or Singapore. “Even though the market in Australia is comparatively strong, people are still interested in chasing the dollar and the bigger deals in Asia.”

Price adds: “Senior Australians will always want to take up opportunities in Singapore and Hong Kong partly because the tax rates there are so appealing.”