UBS Wins Asian Heavyweight

UBS said it is appointing a well-known Asia rainmaker to its board. The move underscores the Swiss bank's ambition to deepen ties with the region's wealthy and powerful.

The Zurich-based bank said it will propose Fred Hu to its board at a shareholder meeting next month, in a statement on Tuesday. Hu is a former rainmaker at Goldman Sachs who founded Primavera Group, a Beijing- and Hong Kong-based private equity firm, eight years ago.

The move is designed to underscore UBS' commitment to Asia for both moneyed clients as well as investment banking. Hu is the second Asia-based representative to sit on the Swiss bank's board after Joseph Yam, who ran Hong Kong's central bank until 2009. Yam didn't stand for re-election last year.

«With Fred Hu’s nomination, we are proposing an extremely well qualified candidate from Asia, an important growth market for UBS,» the bank's Chairman Axel Weber said in a statement.

Asia Power Broker

Hu was instrumental in building Goldman Sachs' business in Asia between 1997 and 2010, when he founded his own firm. Previously, the Chinese native spent time with the International Monetary Fund as well as teaching in China.

He is one of two new proposals to UBS' board, alongside former KPMG Chairman Jeremy Anderson. The bank said William Parrett, former CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, will step down in favor is his role as chairman at the Swiss bank's U.S. entity.

Is Hu and Anderson are elected by UBS' shareholders on May 3, the bank's board will be comprised of the following members: