China Construction Bank, which received a Swiss banking license in mid-October, is rapidly putting in place the necessary workforce to start operating. The Chinese institute already has some 20 employees working at its Zurich offices, research by finews.ch showed.
China Construction Bank (CCB) hired Holger Demuth (pictured below) as chief operating officer (COO). He started working at the beginning of September, Demuth told to finews.ch. He also acts as head of finance and right-hand man to David Gong, the recently installed chief executive.
Demuth is a capacity in Swiss banking, having made his career at Credit Suisse (CS). In late 2008 he moved to Clariden Leu as chief risk officer after the bank suffered a huge trading loss in Singapore. He later participated in the integration of Clarding Leu into CS.
Time Off
At the end of January 2014, he left Switzerland's second-biggest bank and took time off to travel and play golf as he told finews.ch. He also founded a consulting firm and took a seat on the board of The Family Office Company, an investment company.
Building a bank from scratch is a true challenge and pretty rare as such, Demuth told finews.ch. CCB two weeks ago received its banking license from the Swiss banking regulator Finma and is legally entitled to start its business.
Rapid Buildup
The Chinese bank has its headquarters at Beethovenstrasse 33 in Zurich (pictured) and currently employs 17 people. The number is set to increase to 25 in the coming weeks and at least 50 over the course of 2016. The bankers working at CCB have an international background and the necessary knowledge to work with companies that do trade in the world's most populous country.
CCB's presence in Switzerland is part of the planned trading hub for the Chinese currency renminbi, which is designed to facilitate financial transactions for companies dealing with counterparts in China. The hub is always thought to provide investors the opportunity to trade financial products.
The hub is an important opportunity for Switzerland's financial market to further improve its reputation and both banks, the government and industry worked hard to make it happen, as finews.ch reported.
