Both executives have relocated to Hong Kong, which will serve as its headquarters for the region.

With this strengthening of its management team, Experian Asia Pacific is reinforcing its commitment to rapid growth and positioning itself to benefit from its global expertise in credit and marketing information solutions. The company currently serves many of Asia Pacific's leading banks, financial institutions and telecommunications companies. It already has a major presence in Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan and a growing presence in mainland China.

Announcing the appointments, Nigel Fine, Managing Director of Experian International, said: "Asia Pacific is a strategic market for Experian and we are committed to growth through organic expansion and acquisition. Our vision is to develop solutions that meet the needs of businesses and consumers. Strengthening our leadership team in the region is key to achieving our growth ambitions in Asia Pacific."

Representing the Experian International Board in Asia Pacific, Watkins will extend the firm's blueprint of core and value-added services and competencies into the region and support country managers in making long-term investments in people and infrastructure, and building close working relationships with local businesses, consumers and authorities.

Watkins is a 12-year veteran of Experian and a member of the Experian International Board. Prior to this appointment, he was Managing Director of Experian's Management Systems Division, helping to build it into one of the leading global providers of business process support for international financial organisations.

Formerly based in Australia, John Harker is relocating to Hong Kong to be closer to the high-growth markets of Asia and, in particular, the Greater China region. He will spearhead the company's efforts in developing new markets and M&A opportunities with a team across all the major markets. In his 13 years with Experian, Harker has led the business to today's current leadership position in decision support solutions for the consumer lending segment of the Asia Pacific marketplace.

The Experian businesses in Asia Pacific include Experian-Scorex, a global decision support business for credit decisioning, analytics and consultancy; Experian Business Strategies, a marketing solutions business offering MOSAIC geodemographic services, address cleansing, data mapping and marketing analytics for Hong Kong and China; Information Services, providing value-added solutions as a hosted or bureau service; and QAS, the address management solution provider.