About Ascend Partners

Senior Bankers. Global Experience.

Ascend Partners Asia Pacific was established by Tony O’Neill and Victor Penna, two senior banking leaders with extensive experience in Australia, the Asia Pacific and international markets with leading Transaction Banks. They have led and grown Transaction Banking businesses, developed industry strategies, launched new products, managed major institutional relationships, implemented technology platforms, and delivered revenue growth for leading global and local banks.

Ascend Partners was established because there are times when banks need something different from the traditional consulting model. A bank may have a clear ambition to grow but does not have the senior resources available to step outside the day-to-day business, review the franchise and drive a particular programme. In those circumstances, experienced bankers “who have been there and done that” can add value quickly.

We understand how decisions are made inside banks, the competing priorities for investment and resources, and the practical challenges involved in taking a strategy from paper through to implementation. Having both spent a significant part of our careers as coverage bankers, we also understand the importance of aligning the transaction banking business to the overall corporate and institutional banking strategy, client base, and coverage model.

That is the experience we bring to clients through Ascend Partners.

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What makes us different?

We deliver real-world experience and insight that is particularly relevant to global and regional banks looking to grow or strengthen their Transaction Banking franchise in Australia and Asia Pacific.

We understand both the global product model and the practical requirements of building a competitive business in individual markets.

Our backgrounds are complementary, with experience across Transaction Banking, Institutional Banking client coverage (including Corporate, FI, Non-Bank FI, Public Sector, and the New Economy sectors), industry strategy, product development and sales, digital solutions, technology, and business growth.

Clients work directly with us, the partners, who assess the opportunity, form the recommendations and remain involved through delivery.

 The following partner profiles provide more detail on each founder’s career and areas of expertise.

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ABOUT TONY

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

 

 

Tony has more than 35 years banking experience across Australia and the Asia Pacific, having held senior executive and Managing Director positions with Citigroup, JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas and ANZ.

He has spent his career building, leading, and transforming Transaction Banking businesses across Cash Management, Payments, Liquidity, Trade Finance, Working Capital, Supply Chain Finance and Treasury Services.

Tony spent more than 20 years with Citigroup, holding a range of senior Transaction Banking roles across Australia and the Asia Pacific. He subsequently joined JP Morgan as Managing Director and Head of Treasury Services, with full P&L responsibility and leadership of a business across Sales, Product and Client Management in Australia and New Zealand.

At Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Tony was based in Singapore and established the Asia Pacific Transaction Banking Advisory practice and built specialist capabilities across strategic solutions, proposal management, pricing and analytics. He also developed and launched the bank’s Escrow capability.

Tony later joined BNP Paribas as Managing Director and Head of Product Management for Asia Pacific, where he led regional product strategy and developed and commercialised a Supply Chain Finance capability. At ANZ, he led Payments and Cash Management Product Development, including delivery of the bank’s New Payments Platform capability and development of new account, payment and receivables solutions.

More recently, Tony advised Mizuho Bank Australia on its Transaction Banking growth strategy and operating plan, including client and industry opportunities, Cash Management, Liquidity and Deposits, Trade Finance, Working Capital, Foreign Exchange, Escrow, client prioritisation, cross-sell and revenue execution.

Tony established Ascend Partners Asia Pacific with Victor Penna to bring this experience directly to banks seeking to grow, strengthen or transform their Transaction Banking businesses.

Expertise

Tony’s experience spans Transaction Banking strategy, business leadership and execution, with particular expertise in:

  • Transaction Banking strategy and operating models

  • Business growth and revenue acceleration

  • Payments and Cash Management

  • Liquidity Management and institutional deposits

  • Trade Finance and Working Capital

  • Supply Chain Finance

  • Escrow and account solutions

  • Product development and commercialisation

  • Client and industry portfolio strategy

  • Sales execution and cross-sell

  • P&L and business management

  • Technology and product transformation

  • Strategic advisory

  • Organisational design and business transformation

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ABOUT VICTOR

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Victor has more than 30 years corporate and transaction banking experience, having held senior leadership and Managing Director roles in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Dubai. He has led Transaction Banking businesses at a local, regional and global level.

Victor started his banking career as a Credit Analyst and then a Coverage Banker at a predecessor bank of MUFG in Australia covering the Aviation, Building Materials, FMCG and Resources sectors. He then joined Citibank as a coverage banker looking after major multinational corporates in the Industrials, Oil & Gas, Automotive, and Technology sectors. Whilst at Citibank, he transitioned to Transaction Banking holding country-level Sales and Product Head roles where he launched a range of new cash management and supply chain finance products.

He left banking for 5 years to focus on sales performance consulting and leadership development before returning to banking at JP Morgan where he led Transaction Banking Sales and Product for Australia and New Zealand, and then moving to Hong Kong to lead an APAC-wide Treasury Advisory and complex solutions team. In this latter role he delivered major regional cash management and pooling solutions whilst supporting advanced corporate structures such as In-House Banks and SSCs. He also led the sales function for NBFIs in Asia and Asian Corporates going to the US and Europe and was instrumental in rapidly growing JP Morgan’s business in these sectors.

He subsequently joined Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore to establish a global Treasury Solutions & Advisory function covering the Asia Pacific, Europe, US, Middle East, and Africa regions, focused on providing Treasury advice and advanced solutions to major local and global corporations.  He was also the Global Head of Corporate Sales covering cash management and trade services to corporate clients in 55 markets across the world.

Victor then moved to London as Head of the Bank’s Cash Management business in Europe & Americas with responsibility for the US Dollar and Euro clearing platforms whilst building a new domestic cash management and escrow platform in the UK and Europe. He played a key role in transforming the UK and Europe business, rapidly scaling the business, and successfully introducing a full range of domestic cash management services for the UK and eurozone.

At the same time, he was tasked with leading a global Digital Solutions team that worked on cutting edge solutions for fintechs, e-commerce platforms, crypto exchanges, and wallet-based financial services.

Finally, he joined a leading Dubai-based, UAE bank as Executive Vice President and Global Transaction Banking Head, responsible for the end-to-end business in 10 regional and global markets. He led the transformation of the business including the replacement of all the core product engines across cash management, documentary trade, and supply chain finance, with the latest enterprise cloud and API-enabled platforms. After 4 years, the business had more than tripled its product revenues and quadrupled its deposit book.

Victor returned to Australia in 2025 and joined Tony O’Neill in establishing Ascend Partners Asia Pacific to bring his expertise to banks in Australia and the region.

Expertise

Victor’s experience traverses all areas of Transaction Banking with strong domain expertise in:

  • Business strategy and planning 

  • Product innovation and development 

  • Sales planning and management 

  • Digital transformation and industry solutions 

  • Treasury advisory and complex solutions 

  • Payments and Cash Management 

  • Liquidity Management and Pooling 

  • Supply Chain Finance 

  • Escrow solutions 

  • Platform selection and development 

  • Organisational leadership and culture

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