A prominent figure in Asia's banking industry has moved to become a non-executive director at HSBC.

A former chief executive of Singapore-listed DBS, Jackson Tai, has joined rival HSBC as an independent non-executive director, taking effect as of the start of this week. His appointment is initially for three years.

Tai will also be appointed as a member of the the bank's group risk committee and its financial system vulnerabilities committee, it said in a statement.

A luminary of the Asian banking sector, Tai spent the first 25 years of his career as an investment banker at JP Morgan, latterly as chairman of the Asia-Pacific region. Between 1999 and 2007, he held senior positions at DBS Group. He joined DBS as chief financial officer, moving to become president and chief operating officer and, from 2002, vice-chairman and CEO.

Tai will continue to serve as a non-executive director of Eli Lilly and Company, MasterCard Incorporated, and Royal Philips NV, as well as a member of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. His previous non-executive roles include The Bank of China, Singapore Airlines, NYSE Euronext, ING Group NV, CapitaLand, SingTel and Jones Lang LaSalle. In the not-for-profit sector, Tai is a director of Metropolitan Opera and a trustee for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.