UBS has poached a senior banker from rival Citigroup for a newly created position based in Hong Kong.
UBS Investment Bank appointed Catherine Cai as executive vice chairman, according to an internal memo seen by finews.asia. Cai will join in December and will report to Andrea Orcel, the chairman of the division. She will have a cross-divisional and global remit and be based in Hong Kong. She will also be a member of the management committee for corporate client services.
Cai joins UBS from Citigroup, where she most recently was chairman and head of China investment banking. Prior to that she was at Merrill Lynch for more than 17 years, ultimately holding the position of chairman and co-head of China investment banking.
«Catherine will be a key asset for us as we look to identify opportunities to further profitability, build out the business, press ahead with the strategic hiring plan and position UBS as the go to bank in the region,» Orcel said in the memo.
Investment Banking Shake Up
UBS, Asia's largest wealth manager, has shaken up its investment banking in recent months. David Chin returned to the Swiss bank amid a wider management shake-up under the guidance of Orcel, spanning from Australia to New York.
Chin was a 21-year veteran of the Swiss bank before he leaving to become a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong two years ago. UBS will be looking to Chin to restore calm after a flurry of exits in recent months including that of Jiang Guorong and Alison Harding-Jones.
