Steve Sargent is GE Capital's new President & CEO for APAC

General Electric Company's financial services segment GE Capital has appointed Steve Sargent as president and CEO of its business operations in Asia Pacific.

Currently the president and CEO of GE and GE Capital for Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), Sargent is replacing John Flannery in overseeing GE Capital's Asia Pacific operations in its Tokyo headquarters. Flannery has been promoted to run GE's operations in India, while Sargent remains the head of GE Capital ANZ until his replacement's appointment.

"Steve is an ideal match for this position," said Mike Neal, GE vice chairman and GE Capital president and CEO. "He knows the industry, region and GE Capital equally well. Throughout his career, Steve has developed strong customer relationships, built talented teams and found innovative ways to grow the business. In a very challenging 2008, he lead our GE Capital ANZ team to grow earnings double digits while reducing costs. He will bring this operational excellence to Asia Pacific, an important market for us. The fact that we have someone of Steve's caliber ready to take on this new challenge is a testament to GE’s leadership development," Neal added.

A graduate of Charles Sturt University in Australia, Sargent has over 30 years of global financial services experience, 16 years of which were with GE as he held various senior finance, sales and quality positions in GE Capital.