BNY Mellon has named Diego Folina as country executive in Mexico.

Folino joins the company from Standard Chartered Bank, where he served in a number of senior management positions, including as president and chief executive of private banking in the Americas and as CEO and country representative in Mexico. Prior to that, he served in various financial, client management, and managerial posts at Bank of America in Mexico.

In his new role, Folina will oversee the direction and expansion of the firm's local capabilities across all business lines in the country. He will also serve as representative of the company in its Mexico office, join the Latin America management committee, and become chairman of the board of directors for the Mexican banking subsidiary, Institucion de Banca Multiple. He reports directly to Rene Boettcher, the firm's chairman for Latin America.

Mexico featured second on Wealth-X's recent Latin America “rich list”, after Brazil, which came out on top. The two countries are expected to be the main drivers of future growth on the continent, according to a Boston Consulting Group report that came out this year. As a whole, the LatAm wealth market grew by some 8.2 per cent in 2010, the report said.

BNY Mellon has been operating in Mexico since 1994 and is focused mostly on depositary receipt, global payment, global trade and corporate trust services there. It is also considered to be one of the more significant international players in the Brazilian asset management market.

For the LatAm wealth management market as a whole, the BCG research found there were some hurdles for international players looking to gain or increase their presence. Firstly, local players had less exposure to the high-risk investments associated with the crisis and thus preserved clients’ trust better; secondly, the market is characterized by exceptional diversity in terms of clients’ needs and the regulatory environment, the report said.

BNY Mellon is headquartered in New York and has $26.3 trillion in assets under custody and administration, and $1.3 trillion in assets under management.